Dragneel A Fairy No More
by digemsmack
Summary: After Fairy Tail has just had their most recent S-Class exams. Natsu excitedly waits for the results, which will determine what his next course of action will be. Will he become an S-Class mage at Fairy Tail or does Fate have something completely different instore for Natsu. Disclaimer I do not own Fairy Tail
1. Reminiscing

Chapter 1: Reminiscing

A lone figure wearing a black cloak could be seen standing on a cliff overlooking a town. When looking at the face under the hood of the cloak the only thing that could be seen was a sad smile gracing his face as he is watched the sunset behind the town that he had called his home for most of his life. This town is none other than the town of Magnolia, which is well known because it is the town that is home to the rambunctious guild of Fairy Tail. Now you may be asking yourself who is this man overlooking Magnolia and why is he having a sad smile gracing his face while looking over this beautiful town that he calls home.

To answer the first part of the question, is really quite simple; the lone figure is none other than Natsu Dragneel. Now to answer the second of this question is a little more complicated, because there are many different factors causing Natsu Dragneel to look over Magnolia with a sad smile on his face. Natsu is right now reminiscing about all of time he spent in this town since he joined Fairy Tail all those years ago.

Natsu thought about when he was little and all of the fights he used to get into with Grey throughout the town and then all of the damage that resulted from the fights, which then resulted in the much more painful memories of Erza Scarlet beating Grey and him into a bloody pulp. Which would forever cause him to fear Erza slightly, and this was only cemented when Erza and Mira would start fighting each other and destroying anything in their path.

He then remembered all of the times that Mira would pick on him and made fun of him, all in the hopes of getting him to cry. Natsu was then reminded of a sweeter memory of him and Lissana playing when they were children in the park, and then thinking of one of the best things too happened to him was finding Happy's egg and hatching it together with her and raising Happy as their kid, which caused Natsu's smile to become a little bigger. He then recalled some of the more recent memories of him and sometimes the rest of his team sneaking into Lucy's apartment and looking at her underwear, reading her unfinished novel, working out, or just sleeping in her bed.

He then thought of all of the adventures that he was part of while being a mage of Fairy Tail and all the time spent together as a family. All of the guild brawls that he was most likely the cause of, the numerous times that he would kick open the doors and shout that he or his team were back. And everybody would be doing what they usually did, Mira smiling at the bar while cleaning a glass. Master Makarov and Cana drinking, with her drinking quite a bit more than Master of course, Nab standing in front of the request board never being able to find that one elusive quest that would be just right for him.

Macco and Wakaba smoking and drinking together while talking about the good old days and also looking at all of the beautiful women in the guild while wishing that they were younger. Alzack and Bisca would usually be playing with their daughter Asuka with an ever constant smile on their faces. There was always Levy reading a book with Jet and Droy hovering around her, either cheering her on or arguing with each other who she likes more between the two of them. This was always being carefully watched by the Iron dragon slayer Gajeel in the corner with his exceed partner Pantherlily sitting on their table.

Erza would most likely be eating a strawberry cheese cake with a pleasant smile on her face, Wendy would be at a table talking to Charle who would be ignoring Happy and all of his advances at her, trying to get her to love him which was usually just him trying to give her a fish that he already knew she didn't want. Grey would be stripping unconsciously with Juvia leering at him from behind a pillar, and Lucy would be complaining to him about not being able to pay her rent this month. All of these memories caused Natsu to let out a sad chuckle because he knew that none of those things will happen anytime soon or ever again, well for him to at least see or experience.

Natsu turned around and started to walk away from Magnolia with the intentions to never return, and as he was walking his right shoulder became exposed from underneath his cloak, and what stood out was the absence of his red Fairy Tail emblem that he usually displayed proudly to all of the world. As he walked he could only think back to the last S-Class exam and what had happened earlier that day and as he did so his smile vanished and was replaced with a scowl. This then turned into a grin as he said. "So long my so called family, until we meet again Fairy Tail." with the hit of venom in his voice when he said Fairy Tail.

 **End of Chapter**


	2. S-Class Results

Chapter 2: The S-Class Results

 **The beginning of that day:**

As Natsu woke up in his hammock he couldn't help but smile as he remembered that today was the day that Master Makarov was going to announce the results of the S-Class exams that they had just returned from last night. He was smiling because in his point of view he completely rocked this year's test and there was no way that he wasn't going to be promoted to an S-Class wizard and that simple thought made him happier than he's been in a long time. But he did find it odd that they didn't tell them right away after everyone completed the test as to who passed and decided to wait until the next day at the guild for Makarov to announce who was going to be the new S-Class wizards of Fairy Tail. But then Natsu thought who cares; he knew that this year was going to be his year. So he jumped out of his hammock and started his normal routine which was doing his morning stretches and then going for an hour long run in the woods before the sun rose. After which he would start doing the other half of his physical regimen which consisted of: pushups, sit ups, pull ups, and then a whole plethora of other things dealing with lifting weights, which took another two hours to complete everything. After that he would then start practicing all of his spells while destroying any nearby trees or boulders, until he was almost completely out of magic. Once this was done Natsu would take a quick bath in the nearby stream to clean off all of the grime that accumulated after his workout and then head back to his house to cook breakfast for himself and wake up Happy so he too could start the day.

Once he got back he went to the fridge and got out some eggs, bacon, and a fish for Happy of course. He then started to cook up the bacon and eggs for himself and yelled to Happy. "Happy you better wake up right now, otherwise I am going to eat this delicious fish on the table."

Which quickly got a response from Happy, "NOOOOOO!" and resulted with Happy flying into the kitchen and landing on the table and grabbing the fish, before Natsu could go through with his threat to Happy. This caused Natsu to laugh out loud and say to Happy, "That works every time, Happy you know I have never actually gone through with that threat, right?" he asked.

"Yeah but there is no way am I ever going to let you take my fish, and you never know when you will finally realize that fish is the best thing in world and start eating it more than I do." said Happy while he started to munch on the fish.

"So Natsu how do you feel about the exam announcement?" said Happy while looking at Natsu who started to eat his eggs and bacon.

"I feel great Happy, how could I not. I beat Erza in a fight and then made it through that stupid maze, which I don't know why it was even part of the exam. And to top it off when I fought Gildarts we ended up in a tie!"

"Well Natsu it was actually a draw." Happy replied with a smug look on his face.

"Whatever tie, draw, they mean the same thing, all that matters is that I am now equal to Gildarts which means there is no way I can't be promoted to S-Class!" yelled Natsu excitedly as he got up and started to head to the door of their house.

"You coming to the guild Happy?" asked Natsu as he stood in the door way with it open.

"Aye sir!" cheered Happy as he flew over Natsu's head and out the door already heading towards the guild.

"Hey everyone!" said Natsu as he and Happy entered the guild at 10:00 in the morning. They got the usually HI's and hellos from their guild mates as they made their way to the bar, where they were greeted by the beautiful Mirajane.

"Hey Natsu and Happy, what can I do for you two today?" said Mira with her ever-present smile.

"Nothing, oh wait do you know when Gramps is going to do the announcement about the exams Mira?" replied a clearly excited Natsu.

Mira let out a giggle and responded "Master said he was going to do the announcement at noon Nastu. So how do you think you did this year?" she asked because this year she decided to opt out of it seeing that they didn't actually need her since Laxus was a member this time unlike the last time they had the S-Class trials.

But before Natsu could reply, Happy stood up and said "Well I am out of here, I don't need to listen to Natsu explain the exams again. I think I am going to go see what Charle is up too. See you later Natsu and Mira!" Happy sprouted his wings and took off to the table where Wendy and Charle where sitting at.

"Well I didn't think my story telling was that bad." said Natsu looking a little bit hurt at Happy ditching him just as he was about to recap what transpired during the S-Class exams.

Mira giggled once again and said "Hey Natsu, I would love to hear how you did at the exams this year!"

"Really Mira?" once again the excitement was leaking off of Natsu.

"Of course Natsu." replied Mira, which then caused Natsu to spend the next hour vividly explaining the fights that he had during the S-Class exam. As Natsu was just finishing up his story to Mira, Grey strolled up to the bar and sat in the seat next to Natsu.

"Hey Flame brain, ready to start asking me to go on S-Class missions with you?" asked Grey as he had a confident smirk on his face.

"Yea Ice princess, because someone will need to take you under their wing so that you can become S-Class mage someday." replied Natsu with a smug smile.

"Are you inferring that you are going to be the one chosen to be S-Class, Pinky?" asked Grey as he glared at him.

"Dam right I am Ice cube!" laughed Natsu.

"Oh you are so dead Fire boy!" yelled Grey while taking his shirt off.

"Bring it stripper!" shouted Natsu getting into his fighting stance. This of course started one of Fairy Tails famous brawls that lasted until Master Makarov got onto the stage and cleared his throat.

"Listen up you brats, I have an announcement about the S-Class exams, so SHUT UP!" this finally caused Natsu and Grey to stop their fight.

"So as I was saying, this year we had plenty of candidates who are exceptional mages, which caused us to decide to let two people rise to the S-Class Level this year!" Makarov said with a huge grin on his face, and you could easily see that he was so proud of his brats as he liked to call them.

This announcement of course sent the guild into a frenzy of excitement and cheers. You could hear some of the members betting on who the lucky two mages would be. The vast majority of guesses were split between Grey, Natsu, and Gajeel, which of course boosted all three of their egos. After a little while of this going on the Master decided to get the guilds attention again by clearing his throat, which didn't have the desired results, if anything the guild got louder. Then from behind the curtains came the S-Class mages of Fairy Tail. They were Gildarts, Laxus, Mira, and Erza, and Erza was not happy at all that guild was not listening to their Master.

So she said only one word not very loudly "Quite" while giving off a red aura that had the intent to hurt anyone that didn't listen and quiet down within the next second. Needless to say after this the guild was completely quite, you could have literally heard a pin drop which is very impressive considering that this is Fairy Tail we are talking about here.

"Thanks Erza." replied Makarov.

"No problem Master" said Erza with her normal stoic face.

"So as I was saying this year we are promoting two mages this year to the rank of S-Class." said Makarov as he enjoyed his guild being quiet for once in their lives.

"The first one is a wizard who might not have made the best first impressions for us, but has proven without a shadow of doubt that he is a Fairy Tail Wizard and part of our family!" stated Makarov as he paused for a dramatic effect.

"Gajeel Redfox, congratulations on becoming an S-Class Wizard!" shouted the Master.

Cheers erupted from the guild at this announcement and for a second, Natsu was a little mad but he then remembered that this year two wizards were getting promoted and that he still had a chance. So he started to cheer along with the rest of the guild. They finally settled down so that Master Makarov could announce the next new S-Class wizard of Fairy Tail this year.

"Now this next wizard has been with us for a long time and I am proud of what he has been able to accomplish while here. He has grown so much since he was that brat getting into fights every day, and I have also seen him mature greatly and open up to the guild and be there when we need him." said Makarov with a proud smile on his face.

"So without further ado the second S-Class wizard this year is…" said Makarov once again pausing for more suspense.

"Grey Fullbuster, congratulations you earned it my brat." announced Makarov with a huge smile.

The guild once again burst into cheering, well, all except for one wizard who could not believe what was happening, and that was Natsu Dragneel. He couldn't understand what just happened and it was pissing him off, which caused him to start releasing his magic.

This caused the guild to start to get hotter, but no one noticed at first, until Natsu growled "WHAT!" while his fists burst into flames and him letting more of his magic release which caused all of the members around him to take two steps away.

 **End of Chapter**


	3. Reasons

Chapter 3: Reasons

"WHAT!" shouted Natsu again not believing that both Grey and Gajeel were both being promoted before him.

"Are you deft now Flame brain, or are you just pissed that I am better than you?" replied Grey with his oh so smug face on, after hearing that he was an S-Class mage while Natsu still wasn't.

"SHUT THE HELL UP GREY, BEFORE I MAKE IT SO YOU CAN'T TALK FOR A WEEK!" shouted Natsu which surprised a few of the guild members including Grey. Because it looked like Natsu meant it, by the sheer anger in his face when he shouted that to Grey while staring him down.

Erza was the first to recover from Natsu's outburst and decided that she did not like Natsu acting this way to his fellow guild mates.

So she said loud enough for the whole guild to hear, which was not that loud, "Calm down right this instant Natsu" while giving him the stare that usually had him running away from her.

"SHUT THE HELL UP ERZA, I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU EITHER!" shouted Natsu as he glared at her and then returned to glaring at Master Makarov, who he was looking at this whole time.

Needless to say this once again shocked the whole guild this time, because no one talks to Erza that way and I mean no, or at least no one that has and lived to tell about it. Erza was once again completely shocked, here was Natsu talking back to her of all people, she just couldn't comprehend what was happening. So with all of her self-control she was able to keep herself from attacking Natsu and beating the respect back into him, so instead she asked him one question while shaking with rage.

"WHAT WAS THAT NATSU, I THINK I MUST HAVE MISS HEARD YOU?"

"I SAID SHUT UP, I AM TRYING TO ASK GRAMPS A QUESTION BUT YOU KEEP ON INTERRUPTING, AND IF YOU DO IT AGAIN I WILL JUST HAVE TO BEAT YOU AGAIN LIKE I DID DURING THE EXAMS!" Natsu said in a voice just under a shout, because he was slowly trying to calming himself down.

This was once again a surprise to the whole guild, one because he once again talked back to Erza and, two he beat Erza in a fight, which caused some members to start to wonder why he didn't become S-Class for that accomplishment alone. This also caused Erza to lose it and she jumped at Natsu ready to finish him in one blow, but was held back by Laxus and Gildarts. So she just started to yell at him and Gildarts and Laxus who were holding her back from attacking the dragon slayer.

"OH YOU ARE SO DEAD NATSU" to which he didn't even acknowledge her yelling, Natsu just had his eyes locked on Master Makarov, which made her even angrier.

"LET ME GO YOU TWO, I NEED TO MAKE HIM PAY" Erza shouted again and again.

The whole time Natsu was just staring at the Master, who was just starring right back at him, which was starting to piss Natsu off. So he decided to ask his question again but this time making it painfully clear of what he was asking.

"So Gramps I guess I will ask again, so why the hell did those two become S-Class WHILE I DID NOT! I MEAN COME ON I AM STRONGER THAN THOSE TWO WHICH WAS MADE CLEAR WHEN ME AND GILDARTS TIED IN OUR FIGHT" he said while changing to a yell towards the end of his question.

Makarov let out a small sigh and then said "Well Strength isn't the only thing required for being S-Class, this right here is a perfect example Natsu of the things you are lacking ." with a frown on his face.

"What does this have to do with the exams?" questioned Natsu.

"What I mean Natsu is that you are not mature enough and you don't think things through enough which adds to your recklessness. Right now you are acting like a child throwing a temper tantrum because you aren't getting what you want. That is why the other S-Class mages of Fairy Tail and I have decided to not promote you." explained the Master.

Natsu just stood there for a few second thinking about what the master had just said to him and then looked at all of the other S-Class mages on the stage. Looking from Mira who looked completely shocked by everything that is happening and also a little sad at what was just said to him. He then looked at the other three, with Erza still trying to break free from the other two's grasp. He then looked back at Mira and asked.

"Mira, were you also part of this decision?" with what looked like a little bit of hope in his eyes, wanting her to say that she wasn't part of it.

"No I wasn't Natsu, because I wasn't part of the exam, but it doesn't matter because Master Makarov is in charge." Mira said with a little regret in her voice and eyes.

"Thanks Mira." Natsu said while smiling at her. He then turned back to the Master.

"That's fucking hilarious Gramps that those are the reasons that I am not becoming an S-Class mage. I mean look at those three there." he said pointing at Laxus, Gildarts, and Erza.

This caused Makarov to raise an eyebrow questioningly while saying "What do you mean by that Natsu?"

"I will tell you what I mean Gramps. I will start with Erza." Natsu saying this caused Erza to calm down just enough to see where he was going with this, which the other two were grateful of because they too were also curious at what he was going to say.

"Erza is not really displaying a very good maturity right now, because she is literally trying to kill me, just because I yelled and didn't do exactly as she said. This leads to apparently another one of the reasons why you said I can't be promoted, because I don't think things through, which she clearly is not thinking about right now I mean did you see her she was seriously going to try and kill me. Although maybe she did and just didn't care that I would die, I mean she might have realized that I would most likely make it due to my natural resilience, but I can guarantee that if it was anyone else they would have died from taking that hit." stated Natsu as she continued to glare at Makarov.

Erza was completely startled by what he was saying and once she thought about it he was right on most of what he said especially on the part that she would have killed almost any of the other mages excluding the S-Class if she had hit them. She realized that she letting her anger get the best of her, which caused her to feel shamed and guilty at her actions. But she wasn't the only one, once again the whole guild was shocked by what Natsu was saying and even a few of them agreed with him, but he wasn't done yet he had a lot more to say about this whole stupid situation.

"Now Gildarts is the definition of reckless I mean come on we have it so that the town splits apart so that he doesn't accidentally destroy everything on his way here. And last but not least there is Laxus who literally was a power hungry maniac who turned on his own guild forcing us to fight each other; otherwise he was going to kill the girls. And when that failed he was literally going to DESTROY ALL OF MAGNOLIA." shouted Natsu with some slight panting following because he didn't take a breath through that whole little speech of his.

Needless to say most of the guild was left speechless after that. "Are you done Natsu?" asked Makarov.

"For now" was his reply.

"Well good because my decision still stands." stated Makarov.

"WHAT!" screamed Natsu.

"I will admit that there is truth to what you just pointed out to us, but with them it is only occasional, while with you it is almost every day, which means you would not be able to handle the dangers that come along with S-Class quests." replied Master Makarov.

"Are you Fucking kidding me Gramps, with that bullshit about the danger of an S-Class quest?" shouted the now livid Natsu, because this was even dumber than the earlier excuse in his mind.

"No Natsu I am not kidding." said Master Makarov now scowling at Natsu.

"That is such bullshit Master!" replied Natsu, which caused Master Makarov to flinch because Natsu never calls him Master; he would always call him Gramps which Makarov got used to over the years.

Natsu continued on "I have countlessly done things that are as dangerous as some stupid S-Class quests if not even more dangerous. First one that comes to mind is that whole deal with Eisenwald and that dam demon Lullaby. Then this next one gets me because I literally saved stripper here from throwing his life away when we were on Galuna Island. I also had to save Lucy and a village from stripper's old friend slash rival's creepy followers, after that we then once again ran into another demon from the book of Zeref which we destroy and then to finish it off we did the S-Class quest which might I add was the easiest and safest part of that whole experience. Then after that we come back to find out thatmetal head here has destroyed our guild and then goes and attacks Levy, Jet, and Droy. This causes the war between us and Phantom Lord where once again I had to save Lucy." Natsu stops his speech and looks over at Lucy and then chuckles while saying.

"Jesus Lucy I have had to save you all of those times, I mean come on how often are you going to get yourself almost killed?" asked Natsu as he looked at her.

"It's not like I try and get into those situations, I mean they just kind of happen to me." Lucy says while blushing and looking anywhere but at Natsu.

"Whatever you weirdo Lucy, well I am just going to stop mentioning every time I have saved Lucy because that will take forever. Now back to the whole war thingy, oh yea I want to point out that we had an S-Class mage who just flat out laughed at us when we asked for help, but whatever, then I defeated one of the element four while also taking out their cannon which was going to kill the rest of the guild. Oh no but I still had to take down this metal eating bastard over here. This then brings me to another one of my favorite memories where I almost died three different times, the Tower of Heaven. I am just going to skip to the part where I saved Erza Scarlet who was an S-Class mage from one of the Ten Wizard Saints. I mean no big deal I just had to eat Etherion infused lacrimas in order to save me and Erza and then beat the shit out of Jellal, but oh no that wasn't the end of it I once again had to prevent someone from Fairy Tail, from throwing their life away. This was the second time that day that I saved Erza but not the last since I had to swim with her all the way back to the shores of Fiore. But after that I can't even get some god dam rest around here because sparky over there starts, what where your words Master a temper tantrum for not getting what he wants? So along with scrap metal we take down our little S-Class mage during his little temper tantrum. Then thank goodness I was able to at least get some rest before my next example of my qualification for being an S-Class mage. The taking down of Oracion Seis, I mean once again I saved Erza from Cobra's poison by getting little Wendy here, so that she could heal Erza. Then oh yea now I remember I took down the one guy that no one else could take down, not even Erza, Cobra and his little snake. But once again I needed to do more so I had to take on Zero who might I add came once again real close to killing me." ranted Natsu deciding to get it all out in the open.

"Oh my god then the next one is a real fond memory of mine where one of my guild mates decides to give me over to some crazy chick making robotic dragons, where once again I had to give it my all so that I wouldn't die. Now I am only bring this one up because if anything it shows that stripper here is definitely not S-Class material. I mean come on there were so many different ways we could have solved that situation without giving me over to that crazy bitch. I mean he didn't even come and talk to me about it, he was like oh yea Natsu can totally handle having his magic being sucked from him. Which hurts so much more than you would think and Wendy knows what I am talking about. Which reminds me, ice princess remind me later that I still need to get you back for that. So please tell me how our resident pole dancer is more qualified than me. Actually never mind I still have more things to say. This one is another great example of the quality of the S-Class mages of Fairy Tail that you've let through, the whole Edolas escapade, where once again it was a life or death situation happening all of the time for me, which could have been avoided all together if Mystogan had trusted the guild more and relied on us a little. But no he didn't which resulted in a lot of life or death battles for me and once again getting my magic ripped away from me, but this time I unfortunately had company. I am so sorry that you had to go through that Wendy, NO ONE SHOULD EVER HAVE TO GO THROUGH THAT!" shouted Natsu who now looked like he was ready to kill someone just because of reliving that experience with Wendy. This instantly caused Wendy to panic and to try and calm Natsu down.

"Its fine Natsu-san, it didn't hurt me that bad, well you know because they only did it about a fourth as much to me. Because you kept yelling at them to take it from you, which once again thank you for Natsu-san." said Wendy as she was starting to blush after telling how thankful she was to him. This once again surprised the guild because they didn't really know about this detail during their Edolas adventure, and judging from how Natsu reacted to just remembering it must of hurt like hell.

Natsu's response to Wendy's speech was "I only wish you didn't have to experience any of that, and if I could have taken it all I would have, I am so sorry Wendy" he said while looking really depressed and mad at himself for not being able to protect Wendy.

"Oh no Natsu-san you already did enough!" Wendy squeaked out to Natsu. But then Natsu did a quick 180 and was angry again saying that it was all Mystogan's fault for a bit and then decided to go back to his rant which was surprisingly long.

"Well after getting out of that nightmare I had to help make sure that all of Magnolia wasn't destroyed along with the exceeds. But once again that wasn't it for me I along with the other dragon slayers had to take out the crazy king in his robot dragon suit. Then as you know we had some time until our last S-Class exam, which was once again another huge shit storm. Where might I add Master I saved your life from Zancrow by doing something once again that could have killed me, oh yea I also forgot that I saved Elfman and Evergreen from that creepy guy with that magic that killed everything, oh yea Zeref was his name nothing like running into the deadliest mage in Fiore. Then I also had to beat that fat guy with Lucy, then after that almost died to the guy who controls gravity I think. Thanks again for the save back then Gildarts. But once again that wasn't enough I had do more, Hey I just realized that I keep saying that, man I should make that my motto or something. But where was I, oh yea after that we had to take on the Master of Grimoire Heart, Master Hades. Which once again is a miracle that I didn't die multiple times there, but hey at least I got a cool power up during it, which might I add thanks Laxus, but also what the hell were you thinking you could have killed me right there. But I guess it doesn't matter since we pulled through anyway, only to then lose seven years of our lives to that stupid dragon Acnologia." said Natsu as he spat out Acnologia's name.

"Then once we came back we then had to deal with that stupid clock thing or whatever, well to tell you the truth I really wasn't paying attention during that thing and didn't really care. Once again saved Lucy, oh shit I forgot that I was going to stop pointing those out. Sorry about that Lucy. Well then we did the whole Grand Magic Games thingy which once again had to save Lucy, but this time it wasn't just me doing it, which then made us find out about the Eclipse Portal. And as you guys know the dragons started to come out, oh and by the way nice job getting the gate closed Lucy after only seven came out. I am totally serious Lucy you right there saved thousands of lives. Oh and then we had to battle those dragons, which I don't think would have been too hard for me if I also didn't have to battle Rogue from the future, but hey whatever I once again came through and saved the world this time. Then we had to defeat Tartaros, which I don't need to go into detail because that is the most recent, so please tell me Master how where any of these situation not too dangerous for me? Also I would like to point out that I did all of these things while being, what was it again immature, reckless, and not thinking ahead?" Natsu spat out at Makarov.

"Yes Natsu I know about all of the things you have done and I couldn't be prouder of you. But you are forgetting that through all of this you had your family at your side to help you if you ever fell. And as you pointed out numerous times you almost died during these events and that is reason enough to not let you become an S-Class mage Natsu" replied Master Makarov.

"Master I never once, I mean never once, forgot that my family was there for me. Why else do you think that I would push myself so far, and for the fact that you felt the need to remind me of that makes me wonder if you know me at all? And for me almost dying all of the time that should be even more of a reason to let me become S-Class so that I will be able to improve my skills even more, because I keep getting thrown into these situations where I need to fight for my life and the lives of my family. Hey I got an idea Master why don't we ask the rest of the guild and see what their opinion on this debate is and if I should be promoted or not?" Natsu said as he was about turn around and ask his guild mates. Even though the whole guild had already heard everything that Natsu, and the Master were saying.

"That's enough Natsu this isn't up for debate, I have told you my reasons why you will not be promoted and my decision is final. Listen to your Master for once in your dam life Natsu!" Master Makarov shouted at Natsu before he was able to ask his friends of their opinion on this subject.

Natsu got angry at this and was about to go on another rant when someone else finally spoke up. It unfortunately was not someone Natsu wanted to speak, it was Grey Fullbuster.

"Hey Flame brain, I know it must really hurt for you to not get promoted before me, but like the Master said listen to him for once." Natsu was about to say something snarky to Grey but was once again cut off by another guildmate.

This time it was Lucy "Natsu Please Listen to the Master he knows what is best for the guild." she said while looking sad at the whole situation. Natsu didn't know what to say to that and when he was just about to submit to the masters decision he was cut off again, by Erza.

"Yea Natsu, Lucy and Grey are right, listen to the Master." after this a few others started to say similar things to the first three. This really hurt Natsu, that not a single one of his friends and family could see his side of the argument, he just stood there and listened to the vast majority of the guild side against him. But there were a few members that didn't say anything and looked like they wanted to side with Natsu but didn't want to go against the Master. They were Mira, Wendy, Gildarts, Laxus, Levy, and surprisingly Gajeel. This caused Natsu to smile at them which they all noticed, and he once again was going to say something but was cut off by Makarov.

"Enough is Enough Natsu, this was supposed to be a time for us to party as a family." he said with a prominent frown.

That was the last straw for Natsu, all he wanted to say for the last seven minutes was okay and stop this discussion and go get something to eat, but no they kept on not letting him get even another word in, while continuously saying for him to listen to Master. But Masters last comment caused him to not care anymore, so to hell with them he thought.

"Fuck this shit; I can't even get a word in to finally agree with you assholes. So like I said earlier Fuck it, I'm out of here." he said while walking to the guild doors.

But before he could get out, Grey had to get one more comment in "Like hell you were going to agree with us Flame brain, you are only saying that since everybody is against you on this."

Natsu stopped in his tracks after that comment and just stood there thinking about it. Everybody was expecting Natsu to retaliate back at Grey like he usually does, but that didn't happen he just stood the not moving a muscle. Once he finally started to move all he did was continue on to the exit of the guild and acted as if nothing had happened, just as he was walking through them he raised his right arm and gave Grey and everyone behind him the bird, and then was gone.

 **End of Chapter**


	4. The Last Party

Chapter 4: The Last Party

Grey was confused he was expecting like everyone else for Natsu to at least shout back at him or start a fist fight with him at least. He never would have thought that Natsu would just flip him off and walk out without even saying a word back to him. So he had to ask the question that he was hoping someone else would be able to answer. It was a very simple question.

"What the hell was that?"

"That stripper was the Salamander giving you the middle finger." Gajeel snorted while still looking at the door that Natsu just went out of, while thinking this is not going to end well. There were a few others who were thinking along the same lines of Gajeel, they were the ones who didn't say anything while Natsu was being told by everyone else to listen to the Master. They were Mira, Wendy, Laxus, Gildarts, Levy and of course Happy, they all were now sporting concerned faces, not really knowing what to do in this situation and all finally coming to the conclusion to give him some space for now. Oh how wrong they were and each one of them would come to regret that decision.

 **So back to the present, right after Gajeel's comment:**

"Of course I know he just gave me the finger, I was wondering why he didn't respond like he usually does, Metal Head" shouted Grey while he head butted Gajeel.

"How am I supposed to know what goes on in the Salamander's head, Ice Boy" grunted Gajeel as he was now pushing back against Grey's head.

"Don't worry about it brats he will be the same old Natsu we all know and love tomorrow, just like none of this happened." said Master as he had a beer in his hand.

"Yeah its Natsu we're talking about here, nothing can keep him down" said Lucy with a smile now on her face.

"This will only make him that much more determined for next year's exam." said Erza now with a slight smile gracing her features.

"Well I can't wait to beat him then during the exams as his superior" said Grey now having a smile on his face as well.

A few more people made comments on nothing being able to keep Natsu down or how he can do anything, while someone even went so far as to say that he was the manliest man in the guild. While these were being said the seven that were concerned about Natsu right now could only think, why didn't you say this while he was still here. Then the Master got up on the railing and shouted out to the rest of the guild "Lets Party for your new S-Class wizards" while promptly afterwards finishing his mug and getting a refill. Of course Makarov's announcement sent the guild into a full blown Fairy Tail party. As the party went on soon almost everyone forgot that their pink headed dragon slayer wasn't there, except for those seven that just couldn't get the feeling that something bad was going to happen soon and that in some way shape or form Natsu was going to be involved.

As the party continued on into the evening it started to slow down, and some people decided to have a friendly chat with one another while drinking of course, for those that were of age, sorry Wendy and Romeo. At one such table sat Wendy, Lissana, Juvia, Cana, Lucy, and Erza. Of course it started out as a lot of their chats do asking each other who they like and then poking fun at one another about their love interest, and if they didn't have one the group would decide one for them, for the day. After all of that Lucy remembered something that stuck out from Natsu's rant earlier today and that something was pertaining to Wendy so she just had to ask her about it.

"So Wendy I was wondering why Natsu got so angry when he was remembering about you and him getting your magic drained while in Edolas?" questioned Lucy with her head slightly tilted to the left and an eyebrow lifted questioningly.

"I too was intrigued by that as well." replied Erza.

"I also wanted to know more." chirped Lissana.

"I don't even know what you guys are talking about, I don't remember ever going to some place called Edolas." was the slurred reply from Cana. This caused them all to look at her and question how she has never heard of that story before. But eventually chalk it up to her being drunk every time the story was brought up.

"We would also like to hear your explanation Wendy, if you don't mind?" said Mira as she and Levy walked up to the group and found spots at the table.

"I don't mind at all, as long as everyone that wants to listen is listening now." Wendy replied shyly as she looked around and noticed that a few other tables seemed to quiet down so that they could listen in as well. This of course got Wendy to become a little more nervous than she was before.

"So I am only going to say this once, because it is not something that I really want to remember. I also want you to know that this is how it felt to me and don't know if Natsu's experience was like mine, but if I had to guess his was probably ten times worse than mine. That is only a guess if anything it was probably almost one hundred times worse than mine."

"What!" screamed Lucy not believing that Natsu's experience could be one hundred time worse than Wendy's.

"So what makes you think that he had it that much worse then you Wendy?" asked a now very concerned Lucy.

Wendy started to play with her fingers and looked at all of the girls at the table, who all had faces equally as concerned as Lucy's. "Well you know how during Natsu's speech today how it sounded like he got four times as much drained from him than me?" Wendy questioned the group at the table. To which she only got nods of agreement, so she continued her reasoning "Well that was what Natsu told me after one of the draining sessions preformed on me."

"So why do you think that what he said to you wasn't the truth?" questioned Levy.

"Well you see, when he told me that I was feeling really bad and was thinking to myself that I might as well give up, because it would have been easier than going through another draining session." said Wendy with a sad smile. This caused pretty much the whole guild to gasp and Mira to say "Oh Dear!" at hearing that little Wendy had actually thought about dying just to get out of the pain that they were putting her through. But Wendy continued on with her story before anyone else could say anything. "I don't know how Natsu knew what I was thinking of doing, but he somehow did and started to encourage me to keep fighting back and that if I was able to take a fourth of what he did, with as little of training as I got from Grandeeney then he knew that I would someday easily surpass him." said Wendy who was now sitting there with a genuine smile on her face, which caused all of those around her to smile as well, knowing that because of Natsu, Wendy was able to make it through this apparently appalling experience. But Wendy's smile didn't last as she continued on with her story.

"Since they had just finished my session earlier it was time for Natsu's turn." She then started to tear up a bit, "His session easily lasted ten times longer than any of my sessions, and then he finally passed out." she choked back a sob and continued on. "Then that was when the creepy old guy started to talk to me saying that Natsu was something else, something that he never thought that he would run into. This of course made me curious so I asked him what did he mean by that? To which he replied to by asking me how many times had I passed out and if I knew for how long I was out for? I told him four times and that I didn't know how long I was out for each time. He then informed me that each time I was out for two hours and that during each and every one of those Natsu was getting drained. Which meant that for each five minutes of draining that they did to me Natsu received three hours." Wendy cried out and at this point she was crying and didn't care that everyone was watching her. She needed to finish her story so she continued on every once in a while sobbing. "Of course this made me angry at the old man so I screamed at him asking why they were doing this to him. And his response was that Natsu said to take as much as they could from and if they took so much as a drop more than they needed from me that he would hunt down him and everyone that he loved or cared about and turn them to ashes before his very eyes. I once again asked him why he was listening to his prisoner and doing what he asked him to do? And the old man turned to me and said that when he looked into Natsu's eyes as he made that threat to him all he could see in them was that it wasn't a threat at all it was a promise if he didn't do as Natsu said." Wendy finished her story looking up into all of the eyes that were all focused on her and once again becoming very self-conscious.

"Well that does sound like Natsu, when he sees someone he cares about getting hurt. Always will to take on the burdens of his friends." said Lucy now smiling brightly at Wendy and Wendy smiling right back at her nodding her head in agreement.

"One part though doesn't actually sound like Natsu at all though." said Levy now a little concerned about the story that Wendy just told.

"Which part Levy?" asked Lissana.

"The part about turning the old man and everyone he loves and cares about into ashes. That is pretty much Natsu saying he was going to kill him right? Which is something that I have never heard from him." replied Levy.

"I have." said Erza speaking up for the first time in a long while. "When we were in the Tower of Heaven he said something very similar to that if Jellal ever tried to hurt me again."

"Now that you mention it didn't he say something similar to you, Gajeel after he stopped you from hitting me during the whole Phantom Lord war?" questioned Lucy looking straight at Gajeel and demanding an answer from him.

"Yes he did." was Gajeel's simple response, but he then added his own two cents.

"And I know exactly what that creepy old man saw in Salamander's eyes, and he pretty much summed it up exactly as it was. It was plain and simple, it was a promise that Salamander was making and thank god I did as he asked." Gajeel mumbled out but then quickly followed it up with another one.

"And don't any of you dare tell Salamander that I said that about him."

This of course caused the whole guild to burst into laughter. After everyone stopped laughing Mira asked one more question that Wendy was hoping no one would. "So I am just curious and you don't need to answer me if you don't want to Wendy, but what did the draining process feel like, if you could put it to words that would be great?" asked Mira as she was softly smiling at Wendy. This caused the guild to once again get deathly quiet while waiting to see if Wendy would respond.

"That was the one question I was hoping to avoid" Wendy replied while fidgeting back and forth.

Mira quickly responded with "Like I said you don't need to answer, I know how personal that question was."

"Its fine Mira, It will also help explain to you guys why Natsu was so angry about it, and why he said that it's something that he wishes no one to ever have to go through." Wendy said as she once again surveyed the area around her. Seeing once again that she had the full and undivided attention of the whole guild, she continued.

"The best way that I could put the physical pain is probably being stabbed in the heart over and over." said Wendy with a very serious face. Which caused the majority of the guild let out gasps of horror knowing that Wendy had to put up with that for about a half hour, which then caused them to release another thing and that was that Natsu went through that for more than twelve hours. But before people could vocalize how terrible that was and that nobody should have to go through something like that, Wendy started to speak again in even a quieter voice then her normal which is pretty quiet.

"That isn't even the worst part, the worst part for me and I assume it was the same for Natsu was the feeling of losing your magic and not knowing if it was ever going to come back. It felt like I was losing half of myself while it was happening, now I don't know since we are both dragon slayers if he feels the same way I do, but it felt so much worse than I can possibly explain because the part of me that I was losing and not knowing if it was ever coming back was the part of me that connects me to Grandeeney, my magic. Which is what I was assuming that Natsu felt for so much longer than me, I don't know how he was able to do it." said Wendy who then broke into tears along with a few other women from the guild just thinking about what they went through. Just when things were quieting down again Wendy decided to drop a guilt bomb on the guild, mainly Grey, for how they treated Natsu earlier in the day and let them know how much he has gone through.

"Oh and Grey this was exactly what Natsu was feeling when he was inside of that stupid mechanical dragon, that you tricked or should I more accurately say betrayed him into. With that crazy bitch who you decided it was better to work with than Natsu, but it was probably so much more painful than what I went through with him because she was using it right away not storing it. Oh and how long was he in that oh just a little over three hours of soul crushing pain, all because of you thinking you know what is best and not even discussing with anyone else. And what did Natsu do to get back at someone who caused him so much physical and mental pain, nothing he did absolutely nothing to get back at you for what you did to him. I don't know how he did that one, I for one would have probably killed you the next time I saw you. And no I am not kidding I would have tried to kill you for putting me through that much pain." Wendy screamed at Grey with tears constantly falling from her eyes. The next thing the guild new Wendy bolted though the guilds exit with Happy and Carla franticly chasing after her.

This day kept on surprising the whole guild again and again, all throughout the day. But by far this last one was one that was going to be on everyone's mind for days to come. First Wendy tells them quite vividly how much pain and suffering her and Natsu went through at Edolas, which was more than most at the guild could handle. And then Wendy rips into Grey about what he did to Natsu, going so far as to swear during her rant at Grey, which is something that no one has ever seen or heard Wendy do. And to top it all off sweat innocent Wendy says with absolute certainty that if Grey had done what he did to Natsu to her, that she would have tried to kill him for it. To say the guild was shocked would have been a huge understatement. Needless to say that after that little discussion no one felt like partying any more. While a lot of the guild was now thinking about their pink haired dragon slayer again and wondering how someone was able to make it through something like that and keep a smile on his face every day. This was now making a few members wonder if they should have stuck up for him in his heated debate with Makarov earlier in the day.

None were feeling as low as Grey was right now, he couldn't even imagine what Natsu went through. Well that was wrong because he did know now all thanks to a little blue headed dragon slayer. Which made him even feel more like shit for what he did to Natsu back then, and also for how he treated him earlier today. But Grey didn't get a very long time to think about all of this because a Scarlet haired knight was barreling his way. "Grey you need to apologize to Natsu right away for what you did to him." She screamed at him while he looked around noticing that anyone that looked at him had a somewhat disgusted look on their face. While some like Mira and Levy were giving him glares that could kill. But what shocked him the most was the look on Gajeels face, it looked like he was actually going to kill him, if it wasn't for Levy holding him back. Grey really couldn't blame any of them he knew that he deserved all of it if not more. So he looked back at Erza in the eyes and said. "Erza the first thing I am going to do tomorrow is beg for Natsu's forgiveness, right here in front of the whole guild."

"Good to hear Grey, I will make sure that you do." Erza said while sternly gazing back at Grey.

Little did they know that they both wouldn't be able to do what they planned because Natsu wasn't going to show up at the guild tomorrow or anytime soon after that.

 **End of Chapter**


	5. Repercussions

Chapter 5: Repercussions

 **Author's Note:**

 **Just for your information, in case I didn't make this clear enough in the story. This story is taking place one year after the Tartaros arc and the guild never disbanded. It was pointed out that this might not have been clear, so here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.**

 **At Fairy Hills:**

Wendy slammed her door shut behind her and jumped on to her bed burrowing her face into her pillow, still crying and clearly distraught at what just occurred at the guild. She couldn't deny that what she just did and said to Grey was so liberating, but now she just realized that what she just shared with the guild was maybe not something that she had the right to share. This thought only made her feel worse, and caused her to think of more depressing thoughts such as Natsu being so furious with her for telling what they went through that he would no longer talk with her. She just laid there in her bed crying until her sensitive ears heard someone screaming her name.

"WWWEEENNNNDDDYYY!" was the shout that she heard causing her to look up to her window, just in time to see a blue cat comically splat against her window. This shocked Wendy, because this was seriously one of the last things she was expecting to happen tonight. But before she could do anything about this her door open and in walked in her white exceed partner.

"Wendy, how are you feeling? And have you seen Happy, I thought that he would already be here since he was ahead of me?" questioned Charle with a concerned look on her face, while walking up to Wendy. Wendy's response to this was to wipe away a few stray tears from her face and then point to her window, where Happy was still stuck to it.

"Stupid Tomcat!" said Carla as she then went over to window, and opened it to let Happy in.

"Thanks Carla." Happy said with love clearly in his eyes.

"Humph." Carla responded while looking away from him.

"Carla my love, I brought you this fish!" said Happy while pulling a fish out from who knows where.

"Tomcat I have told you before, I DON'T LIKE FISH!" Carla shouted back at him.

"That's impossible all cats love fish." said Happy with complete disbelief in his eyes.

"Tomcat we aren't cats we are exceeds, which means I can like whatever I want to like, and I DON'T LIKE FISH" she said once again to Happy, while shouting at the end of it.

"Oh why is the world so cruel." cried Happy while on the floor smashing one of his paws against it.

This caused Wendy to start to chuckle at the interactions between the two exceeds in her room.

"Oh yeah, Wendy how are you feeling?" said Happy pretending that Charle didn't just completely shut him down a few seconds earlier.

"Not as bad anymore, thanks to you two." giggled Wendy.

"Aye, we did it Carla!" Happy shouted while jumping around and raising his paw into the air.

This once again got Wendy to laugh, but then she stopped remembering her previous thoughts that she was having earlier. Which made her ask a question to the two exceeds that she couldn't get off her mind.

"Do you think Natsu will be mad at me for telling the guild what we went through in Edolas?" she asked looking at the two exceeds hoping that he wouldn't.

"What Wendy, how could you ever think that? Natsu would never get mad over something that stupid!" Happy replied quickly to Wendy's question, knowing that his answer was true.

"Wendy the Tomcat is correct, Natsu is a hooligan and in my opinion a terrible influence on you. But one thing that I have learned while being at Fairy Tail is that Natsu loves his family and would do anything for them. Also he would hate to see you getting sad over something so trivial." responded Carla in a motherly tone to Wendy.

"Really, you both think so?" questioned Wendy, looking between Happy and Carla.

"Aye sir, I also think that he would be proud of what you did Wendy. That took a lot of courage to speak your mind like that to the whole guild." cheered Happy.

"The Tomcat is right again. I am so proud that you are not as shy as you used to be." declared Carla with a look of pride on her face, thinking about how much Wendy has grown since being at Fairy Tail.

"You two are the best." yelled Wendy as she grabbed the two exceeds and brought them into a gentle hug.

"Well today has been quiet a long day so we should probably go to bed." said Carla, once again back in her motherly voice.

"Aye sir, Slumber party!" cheered Happy.

"I was talking to Wendy, and we didn't invite you to stay here tonight!" replied Carla quite angrily, while glaring at Happy.

"Hey Carla that is just to mean and quite rude to say to someone who came here, obviously concerned about me." said Wendy in a defensive manner.

"You are welcome to stay the night Happy, but don't you think you should head home and make sure Natsu is fine, after you know what just happened today?" questioned Wendy.

Wendy and Carla both watched as you could see Happy's mood drop to almost as sad as when there is no more fish for Happy to eat, which means he became really sad.

Happy then said "I could but I would most likely be going home to no one. When Natsu gets upset like this he usually goes off by himself to sort it out while training. I just really didn't want to be alone right now." while walking towards the window.

"Happy you can stay here tonight." said Carla, which instantly got Happy to become well happy again just because she called him by his name, which is something that Carla usually never does.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." shouted Happy now flying around the room.

Wendy was once again laughing at their antics and then decided to crawl into bed, with the two exceeds following.

"We will just have to see Natsu at the guild tomorrow." said Wendy as she was about to drift to sleep.

"Aye sir." responded Happy, with that they all went to sleep wondering what tomorrow will bring.

 **The next day at the guild:**

The day started out like any other day for Mirajane. She woke up, showered and got dressed. After making sure that she looked presentable, she headed down stairs to cook breakfast for herself, like usual, because it was way too early for Elfman or Lissana to be waking up. They were definitely not early birds like Mira, then again when Mira thought about it; she too was not an early riser when she was an active mage of Fairy Tail. Ever since she became the barmaid it became a requirement, which if she is being honest with herself, Mira now loved waking up early enough to watch the sunrise and also being at the guild when everyone first arrives for the day. These were just a few perks of being an early riser.

So after Mira finished her small breakfast, she went to Fairy Tail to open it up for the day. This meant that she would have to do a quick clean up from the party or fight that happened the previous night. Sometimes this also included waking up any guild members that either was passed out or knocked out from the previous night, that truly depended on which member she was waking up. One of the most frequent members that Mira would have to wake up would be the guilds heaviest drinker Cana, and we all know why she spent the night there. But this morning was one of those few mornings where it seemed that Cana did not crash the night there, this truly startled Mira because she remembers how much Cana drank last night and it was a lot, even for Cana. After Mira made this observation, she noticed that no one else spent the night at the guild probably because of learning what Natsu went through with Wendy and everything else that happened with Natsu yesterday.

This made Mira sad, just thinking about what how Natsu blew up at the Master after not being promoted. She then remembered how sad and almost broken Natsu looked when he learned that the decision was not only the Master's but also the other S-Class members. And how he looked into her eyes and asked if she was part of that decision and she thanks Mavis that she wasn't, even though she somewhat wishes she was so that she could have argued for Natsu. I mean come on she thought no one and she means no one has done more for this guild than Natsu, and she definitely believes that should count for something right. Mira now is really regretting not sticking up for Natsu yesterday, but what was she to do Master said he was not to be promoted and his word is final. She also really regrets not looking for him at all afterwards, but once again she had her duties as a barmaid to fulfill, but she knows that was just an excuse that she was using, but she also thought that he might just need some time alone. And then she remembered the terrible story that Wendy told the guild last night, and all of the pain that she and Natsu went through. It made her so mad just thinking about it, which caused Mira to give off a deadly purple aura while cleaning, which would have scarred the shit out of any normal person. Her anger only increased as she remembered that Natsu went through so much pain and Natsu being Natsu just took it all, which is something no normal wizard would be able to do if how Wendy described the situation was at all remotely true. Which she had no doubt in her mind that little Wendy was telling the truth, she was just too innocent to lie about something like that. There was also her little speech that she yelled at Grey, which scared even Mira a little bit, she would have to congratulate Wendy on getting the glare that all Fairy Tail women seem to have, that is able to strike fear into the hearts of all men. She just hoped that this gut feeling that she was getting was wrong and nothing bad was going to happen today, she knew that all she needed to know that nothing bad was going to happen, was for Natsu to step into the guild with that goofy grin of his that makes all of her worries wash away. She was jarred out of her thoughts as the first guild member of the day walked through the doors.

Mira jumped a little bit by the unsuspecting member arriving, and realized that she was already completely done cleaning the guild and was already back at her station behind the bar mindlessly cleaning a glass. She then looked at who it was that disturbed her thinking and the person instantly made Mira glare and almost growl at them. It was none other than Grey Fullbuster, the person that she had just learned, caused Natsu to go through probably the most excruciating pain that someone can.

"Hello Grey." Mira said while still glaring and a little venom in her voice.

"Hey Mira, and I know I'm a piece of shit, that is why I came to the guild so early, I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss Natsu, so that I could apologize and beg for his forgiveness." replied Grey with loads of regret in his voice. And if his appearance was any indication he truly was sorry, and it looked like he didn't get any sleep last night.

"Good Grey, because if you didn't I know that me and Erza would have made you think otherwise." Mira said with her usual smile, which made it scarier in Grey's opinion.

So the two of them were both now waiting for Natsu's normal entrance into the guild, both keeping a keen eye on the guild doors. A few hours passed and more members showed up, but none of them were the pink headed fire breathing dragon slayer that they wanted. It was now eleven o'clock and he still hadn't come yet, which did not help Mira's feeling that she has been having, because Natsu always comes at around ten thirty. She also noticed that she wasn't the only one feeling uneasy and waiting for Natsu's return. There was Team Natsu excluding Natsu of course and also Wendy and the two exceeds, which if Mira thought about it was not that surprising as well considering what Wendy went through last night. Another group that was concerned with the absent fire dragon slayer was Gajeel, Lily, and Levy. Gajeel and Levy were sitting in a booth together side by side whispering to each other. This normally would have had Mira going into match maker mode, but she was still too concerned about Natsu, she still thought that it was incredibly cute and made a mental note to chat with Levy about it later. Laxus, Mira noticed was also waiting for the pink haired mage to come into the guild as well because he was always leaning against the second floors railing every once in a while glancing over to the guilds entrance. This was definitely not normal for Laxus, yes he was a member of Fairy Tail but he was usually up on the second floor somewhere where it wasn't as noisy, and stayed out of sight. The last person that it was clearly obvious that they were concerned about Natsu was none other than the Ace of Fairy Tail, Gildarts Clive. He just sat there at the bar next to Master Makarov not drinking or telling stories like he usually would, he only listened to everyone else's stories while always having an eye glued to the door.

Another hour and half passed and still no Natsu, this caused all of them to grow a little bit more concerned. Then in came Wendy along with the two other exceeds not already at the guild. This caused the guild to quiet down almost immediately, which caused Wendy to get a little nervous, but brushed that aside and strode into the guild confidently. Instead of going to her normal table, where Team Natsu is at, she made her way to the bar, but as she passed Team Natsu's table she glared directly at Grey causing Grey to hang his head in shame. The guild was once again startled by Wendy because the guild all agreed that the glare that she gave Grey just then rivaled that of Mira or Erza, which is saying something. But the guild shouldn't have been that surprised, because she gave Grey a much worse one last night.

As Wendy took a seat at the bar she asked "Hey Mira has Natsu-san stopped by the guild yet, because I wanted to talk with him."

"Sorry Wendy, he hasn't yet and just so you know you aren't the only one that seems to want to have a few words with him." replied Mira as she pointed out all of the people that could easily be seen watching the door as if it was the most exciting thing in the world.

"Well I hope he comes soon, and can I have an orange juice please." she said while turning back to Mira.

"Me too Wendy, me too and I will get that juice for you right away." Mira said while heading into the kitchen to get a glass for Wendy.

Another four and a half hours passed, and at this point they were all growing more concerned about the missing dragon slayer. His absence was now being noticed by almost all of the guild members now. Grey at this point was getting fed up with waiting for Natsu to come to the guild so that he could apologize, and now a whole day had been wasted and he still hasn't been able to say that he was sorry. So he jumped from his table and somehow in the process was down to his boxers, and shouted "Where the hell is Flame Brain?" This outburst of course caused him to get a few more glares sent his way from some not so happy guild members.

"Quiet Grey." hissed Erza at him.

"As Grey so ineloquently put, where is Natsu-san?" asked Wendy, mainly directed towards Mira.

"I don't know Wendy, but I hope he shows up soon, I have been having this strange feeling all day." replied Mira looking very concerned about the absence of Natsu.

"Don't you worry your pretty heads about Natsu, you two." said Master Makarov while drinking a beer.

"It's Natsu were talking about here, and like we said last night he will come back any moment now and it will be like none of that stuff happened yesterday." replied Makarov after another swig of his beer.

I hope you are right Master, thought both Wendy and Mira after the Masters last statement and they weren't the only ones thinking along those lines.

"Well I think I am going to go home and see what he is up to!" declared Happy as he summoned his wings and flew to the guild's exit.

"You do that, and see if you can bring him back with you? If you do, I think I have a big fish with your name on it." said Mira with her normal smile.

"Aye Sir!" shouted Happy giving Mira a salute and then flying out of the guild so fast, some thought that he made a sonic boom because a few members were thrown back.

This caused Mira to giggle and think, he would do anything for fish.

Happy made it back to his and Natsu's place in a new record speed, not just because of the fish that Mira was going to give him but also because he was really concerned about Natsu now. As he entered their house he started to yell for Natsu, but didn't get any response which really started to concern him as he was flying throughout the house. Once he finally realized that he wasn't physically there, he started to look for clues of where he might actually be. Once he got back to the living room he noticed something that usually isn't there. On their coffee table was a black envelope closed with red wax seal of flames with a dragons head in the middle, on the top right of the letter were the red letters saying to Happy. Behind the Letter was a red and orange lacrima that looked like it contained Natsu's own flames. Happy gingerly grabbed the letter already dreading what the contents of the letter were as he opened it and began to read it.

 _"Dear Happy,_

 _I am so sorry for doing this to you, but I know you are strong and will be able to do what I am about to ask of you. You have no doubt noticed the lacrima behind this letter, I need you to take that to the guild and then destroy it. Oh and when you do make sure that you have every one stay back, hahaha. After that there will be something else for you to read. And I can't tell you how sorry I am for this happening like it is so until my next letter, which you will get at the guild._

 _Love Natsu Dragneel._

Happy was already crying by the time that he finished reading the letter and he had a pretty good idea what happened to Natsu. But he decided to Man up as Elfman would say and do what Natsu had asked him to do, he also did it to prove that Natsu was right in saying that he was strong enough to do it. So Happy grabbed the lacrima and took off back to the guild.

Mira and Wendy were both at the bar talking to one another feeling better that Happy was out there and would soon be bringing Natsu back to the guild. It was only ten minutes after Happy had left when he came flying back into the guild balling his eyes out. He flew straight to where Mira and Wendy were and landed on the counter in between them.

Still while crying he looked up to Mira and said "Sorry Mira I couldn't bring him back, I am so sorry."

"Hey, Hey, Hey, it's okay Happy, you can still have that fish, I know how stubborn Natsu can be sometimes." she said while smiling at the blue cat thinking that he was just really sad that he thought he wasn't going to get the fish if he didn't bring Natsu back with him.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE STUPID FISH MIRA!" Happy shouted while still crying.

This got the whole guilds attention, because no one and I mean no one ever thought that those combinations of words would ever leave Happy's mouth.

"Calm down Happy, if it's not about the fish then what's got you all worked up?" questioned Mira as she started to try and calm Happy down by petting him on his head.

"It's Natsu, he left!" Happy choked out between sobs.

"What was that Happy?" asked Mira not wanting to believe what Happy just said. Needless to say the rest of the guild was quietly listening in on Mira and Happy's conversation, hoping too that they also misheard Happy.

"Natsu gone, he's not here anymore." replied Happy starting to cry again.

"Are you sure Natsu isn't just training somewhere, trying to cool off?" questioned Erza.

"Yea Happy that's what has to be happening, right?" piped in Lucy.

"Flame brain, is definitely just trying to cool off." responded Grey in agreement to Erza and Lucy's previous statements.

Mira didn't say anything as more people were saying things very similar to those three's comments, but Mira now had the feeling that they were definitely wrong and that this was the bad thing that she was feeling earlier today. So she just stood there praying silently to Mavis, that her gut feelings were wrong and that Natsu didn't actually leave.

"NO, NOO, NOOO, NOO!" shouted Happy, "You aren't listening to me." he said in a completely defeated tone.

"How are you so sure Happy?" questioned Wendy, truly dreading Happy's response.

"He left me a letter and this lacrima." said Happy as he pulled the lacrima out of his backpack.

"So in the letter it said that he was leaving?" questioned Levy as she, Gajeel, and Pantherlily appeared at the bar.

"No it didn't, but I could tell from it that he was." said Happy not sounding very much like is namesake, who was now being comforted by his fellow exceeds.

"What do you mean by that?" questioned Mira.

"Well first off he apologized to me a few times during the letter and asked me to be strong and do one last thing for him." said the very blue, meaning depressed, Happy.

"What did he want you to do Happy?" asked Master Makarov, who now just joined in on the conversation.

"It was to take this lacrima and destroy it in the guild." replied Happy, once again showing off the very strange lacrima in his small paws.

"Do you have any idea what it is going to do Happy?" asked Makarov as he was taking a closer look at the lacrima, which looked like it was made out of red and orange flames.

"Nope, but in the note he said to make sure that we made room for it so that nobody would get hurt." said the still sobbing cat.

"You heard him brats, clear a space for him. If you would Happy?" said Master Makarov, as the guild made room for Happy to break the lacrima.

"Aye Sir!" said Happy with very little enthusiasm when compared to how he normally shouts it.

Happy got up and flew to the cleared out area of the guild and threw the lacrima with all of his might. It hit the ground with a loud thunk, which was followed by a small cracking sound and cracks starting to spread all over the lacrima. The guild all held their breath waiting to see what was going to happen. With most of the guild members still not believing that Natsu left, but a few could see that Happy was telling the truth but still hoped that this was all some sort of stupid joke by Natsu. Either way they all wanted to see where this was going to happen with the lacrima. The lacrima then erupted into flames, roughly having a six foot diameter while also being twelve feet tall. Once the flames died down the guild was once again left speechless, because no one thought that Natsu was capable of doing something like this.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Feel free to give me a review, tell me what you liked or didn't like. Or if you want feel free to tell me where you want me to go with this story, and maybe I will if I like the idea. Oh and actually if someone could give me some sort of picture for the cover art of this story that would be very much appreciated, because I couldn't draw anything good if my life depended on it. I might be posting two different Fairy Tail stories soon if anyone is interested. That's about all of the things I wanted to say here, so thanks again for reading.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem out!**


	6. Parting Gifts and Regrets

Chapter 3: Parting Gifts and Regrets

 **At Fairy Tail:**

In the middle of the guild where the lacrima once was, now sits a black wooden chest with red trimmings. When looking at the chest you couldn't tell if it was originally black or if it had become black due to the flames, which seemed to somehow bring the chest there magically. On the lid of the chest you could see that something was carved into it, and upon closer inspection it was the carving of flames with a dragons head in the middle of it. Just like the wax seal on the letter to Happy. The whole guild just sat there completely dumbstruck, looking at this chest that came from the lacrima that Natsu left for Happy to take to the guild, and now not knowing what to do with it.

"Well are we just going to sit here staring at it or is someone going to open it?" asked Cana who looked like she was becoming very intrigued by this whole situation. Most looked at Happy, wondering what should be done, and if it was okay to open the chest.

"Hey I have already done my part, all Natsu told me to do in my letter was to take the lacrima to the guild and destroy it, and then I would know more after." said Happy from on top of Lisanna's head.

"Well do you know what is fully going on now Happy? Because if not then it is highly probable that there is another letter for you explaining everything in that chest, and who knows what else." said Levy being able to put all of the pieces together before anyone else.

"Nope, still don't know anything new. And I don't want to open that chest!" said Happy defiantly.

"Why don't you want to open it Happy?" asked Lisanna, looking up at Happy who was still on her head.

"Because if we do, then we will know for sure that Natsu has definitely left us!" said Happy as he started to cry again.

"There, There, Happy, we don't know if that will be the case." said Lisanna as she took Happy off of her head and was now hugging him, while rocking him back and forth as if he was a baby being lulled to sleep.

"Yes I do." shouted Happy, now trying to get away from Lisanna, but failing miserably.

The guild during this whole little dialogue just sat back and watched, some feeling sorry for the little blue exceed and how confident that he was that Natsu had left him and the guild. Gajeel had enough of this waiting to see what happened, and decided he was going to move this along.

"Screw this I'm going to open it." grunted Gajeel as he made his way over to the chest.

Gajeel opened the chest and what he saw caused him to say out loud, "Oh my god!"

This immediately got the guilds attention, causing Levy to ask "What's in it Gajeel."

"Quite a lot actually, there are a lot of letters addressed to certain guild members and one to the guild in general." he said while holding up a pile of black envelops with the same wax seal that was on Happy's first letter and also on the lid of the chest.

"There also seems to be a pile of jewels, a few random weapons and some smaller chests in here." said Gajeel as he rose up some jewels and also brought up a sword and chest afterwards.

"Well what do you want to do Master?" questioned Erza, looking at that the Master now with concern clearly on her face.

"First I think we should probably pass out the letters and see, what Natsu has to say to each of us and also what he has to say to the guild. So if you would be so kind as to pass out the letters Gajeel, that would be greatly appreciated." said Master Makarov now also sporting a concerned face for the first time during this whole fiasco.

So Gajeel then went around the guild passing out letters to who they were addressed to. The guild members that received letters were: Wendy, Mira, Lisanna, Lucy, Erza, Levy, Gajeel, Grey, Romeo, Alzack/Bisca, Laxus, Gildarts, Happy and finally the Master was given the one addressed to the guild. They were all really surprised about this and didn't know what to do except for look at the letters now in their hands.

"Well I guess, I might as well open this up and see what Natsu has to say to us." said Makarov as he started to open the envelope and take out the letter, so that he could read it out loud to the guild.

So the Master cleared his throat and started to read out loud to the guild.

 _Dear Master and Guild,_

 _Since you are reading this I can only assume that you have passed out the rest of the letters to the members, but I want to stress that if you didn't get an individual letter. That just means that I didn't have enough time for it, and for that I am very sorry. I can also assume that Happy has been saying that I have left, which is sadly true, and it appears that my adventure as a Fairy Tail mage has come to an end. What can I say about my time at Fairy Tail, it was one hell of a ride wasn't it. All of the good and bad times that we went through, I honestly can't believe that we actually made it through all of it. But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end as they say. I will always remember my time here, up until the most recent event, fondly and hold them dear in my heart. If you are now wondering if I am leaving just because of what just happened, that is not the only reason for my departure, even though it hurt me more than you guys could possibly imagine when everyone except for a select few kept telling me to shut up and listen to Master. And like I said to Grey earlier, I was going to do just that after about the fifth one of you guys saying that stuff to me, but no you guys didn't let me get another word in. And you still might not believe me, that I was going to do that, but you know what I don't give a shit anymore. But I would like to also thank those that didn't join in on telling me that, and you all know who you are and hopefully we will meet each other again under more favorable circumstances. Another reason for my departure from Fairy Tail is, as Master knows, I only originally joined Fairy Tail to help me in my efforts of finding Igneel, which as you know is no longer something that I can do. So you could say that I am now trying to find some purpose for my life, which I thought that I would be able to do so while staying at Fairy Tail while becoming stronger. But apparently that was a foolish thought, or so it would seem. So I guess I will have to go elsewhere to become stronger and find a purpose. Look at that it seems like I have been rambling which isn't something that I usually don't do, ha ha-ha looks like I am still learning new things about myself. Now to try and close things up here nice and neatly if I can, which has never been one of my strong points, which was made evidently clear to me during our discussion Master. So back to the other contents of the chest, those who have letters will get a few personal words from me and instructions on what I am leaving them if I am leaving them anything at all, oh and feel free guys to share the contents of the letters if you feel like it, I like to feel like I have always been a pretty straight forward guy. Master what can I say, you have been like the Grandpa that I never got to have, you were always there believing in me which made me feel like I could accomplish anything for the guild and that also gave me great pride in being able to call myself a Fairy Tail mage. I would have loved for that to continue but it seems that you no longer have the same faith in me that you once did, which really hurts Master, but enough with this sad bullshit. Master I know that I have always been a pain for you, always destroying things and causing the council to get angry with you, and then causing you to have to pay for the damages. For this I am truly sorry, but it was always who I was and Igneel always told me to be proud of who I am. So once again I am sorry for that and have decided that in order to make up for that I have left you a small chest which should contain some valuable gems that I have collected throughout my years at Fairy Tail. You will know which chest I am talking about because it will only open for you Makarov, and the last time I had them appraised it was worth over 100 million jewels, which is probably not enough but hey it's something right. Oh and also that wad of jewels siting in the chest I thought that I should give some to each and every member of the guild, as my way of saying that I am sorry if I destroyed anything of yours and I only hope that I didn't destroy anything of sentimental value to you. If so I know that the small amount 20 thousand jewels that I am leaving you is no way at all worthy compensation. Also if I didn't actually leave enough for everyone to get 20 thousand jewels, which I am pretty sure that I did but you never know mistakes happen, talk to Happy after he has read his letter and he will be able to help you out. So I guess that sums up what I have to say, so Farewell Fairy Tail my old guild and Family._

 _From,_

 _The reckless and immature Natsu Dragneel_

By the end of it most of the guild members were crying, there were some of course who were trying to put on a strong front and not cry, but you could see that even they wanted to. The guild was also very surprised by how much money Natsu was giving away, for how most saw it no good reason, because if he did ever destroy something that belonged to someone he would replace it right away. So this seemed like over kill giving each guild member 20 thousand jewels for nothing. They were also extremely surprised to hear that he was giving Master gems that were worth more than 100 million jewels, but that was still waiting to be seen if it was true due to the fact that Master Makarov hasn't opened his chest yet. Over all for some of the guild members, this didn't make any sense, that Natsu was apparently filth stinking rich. I mean he never seemed to buy anything for himself expect for food, which he bought a lot of, and he didn't live in a huge house or anything just a nice small cottage out in the middle of the woods. And when doing quests he never got the full reward, because of him destroying something while trying to complete it. But now that some members thought about it Natsu has been at the guild for over ten years while always doing quests while there, and since he seemed to buy food for himself and Happy, and the occasional gifts for other people. It made sense that there would be tons of left over jewels, which surprisingly Natsu seemed to save for some sort of rainy day.

"Well might as well pass the money out and his other gifts, considering it was his final request of me as a member of Fairy Tail." said Makarov trying to hold back the tears that were in his eyes, threatening to break lose any moment. So Master Makarov grabbed the chest and then sat on the bar, and decided to place all of the other contents in the chest onto the bar. He then started to pass out the wads of jewels that we in bundles of 20 thousands to each of the guild members as they came up to him with sad faces, or even still crying. As the Master was doing this the others who received a letter from Natsu all decided that this would be the perfect time to read it while the rest of the guild was distracted. Here is what each of them said.

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Feel free to give me a review, tell me what you liked or didn't like.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem out!**


	7. Letter to the Connells

Chapter 7: Letter to the Connells

 _Dear Alzack and Bisca Connell,_

 _I am still so proud that you guys finally were able to tell each other about how you feel for each other. And because of this you guys were able to bring new life into this world. Which is the greatest form of magic, make sure that you guys protect Asuka but I don't need to tell you guys that now do I. So I was going to go to the gun store and have them inspect these three guns that I found on my last quest before the exams, to see if they were any good at all or worth anything at all. But it seems like I won't be able to do that so I decided to give them to you two, I hope they aren't just pieces of junk, if so don't feel bad about throwing them out or selling them. Even if they are good feel free to do whatever with them because you two will definitely be putting them to better use then their previous owners, no good filthy bandits._

 _Oh and the last thing that I wanted to give to you two is actually for Asuka as long as you are okay with it that is. Well you see on one of those days that I was watching her for you guys, we were walking around town when she saw this pink pistol in the display window of the store and Asuka got really excited talking to me about it and how she wished she could get one for her birthday. So of course you guys know that sad pouting face that she can do, well it was on her face for the briefest second when she said that she knew that she couldn't get one because it was too expensive, but then she turned back smiling to me saying that it was okay as long as she had her mama and papa. You two have such an amazing daughter, I just wanted to let you guys know that. So I decided that later that day I would go back and buy it for her, to give to her on her birthday after I cleared it with you guys of course. But it looks like I might not be around for her birthday. Which I am sorry about and was wondering if it would still be okay if I did and maybe visited from time to time. Oh yea I actually bought her two of the same pistols because I didn't know if she wanted to be like her daddy, they are both still in the box with their own holsters, so you could return them if you want. But I do have to say that these are pretty nifty guns, when Asuka was telling me about them, she told me that you can change the color of them if you want, and that they had some sort of new technology that I didn't understand in them that apparently she did. That allows someone to put their magic into it, which would then allow someone like her to be able to shoot bullets with that magic property, which sounds totally badass._

 _She also said that they are able to have five different types of magic stored in them. So when I bought these for her I decided to put some of my fire dragon slayer magic into them, while also putting my lightning fire dragon slayer magic in there as well. I also decided to have the Fairy Tail emblem engraved on to the handles, while also having one of the guns emblem look like it was made out of fire while the other ones emblem looks like it is made out of lightning. This brings me to the final thing that I had done to the guns, which was engraving the names of the guns onto the sides of the gun. I heard somewhere that all good weapons need to have names so I named them scorch and shock, but tell her if you do give them to her to feel free to rename them, which the guy at the store said that he would re-engrave them for no additional charge. Oh and in the envelope there is an additional 500 thousand jewels for your family, because I can only imagine how hard it is._

 _Well I hope to see your family sometime in the near future as long as it is okay with you guys._

 _Natsu Dragneel._

 _PS. I almost forgot to put this medallion in the envelope; once again I wanted to give this to Asuka as well. It is a special medallion that I had made with a little bit of my magic put into it, and if she or whoever is wearing it focuses on it when they really need my help, it will let me know that they are in trouble and give me the rough area of where they are at. And I will get there as fast as I can._

Alzack and Bisca were stunned and didn't know what to say, as they looked at the medallion and jewels in the envelope. This was all just too much, especially if Natsu bought two of the guns that they were thinking that he did due to his vivid explanation of the guns abilities, because those guns just standard costed 500 thousand jewels apiece. And it sounded like he had them custom made for Asuka adding on to them the special engravings, but what would make them worth ten times as much was due to the fact that Natsu put his own magic into them, which is completely one of a kind. Both Bisca and Alzack looked at each other and thought the same thing, of course Natsu would always be welcomed at their house no matter what, even if he was no longer a member of Fairy Tail, while both deciding also that they were going to be definitely giving the guns and medallion to Asuka. Right away as an early birthday present to her from her uncle Natsu, to hopefully lesson the blow of Natsu leaving.

"How could Natsu be such an idiot? Thinking that we might not want to see him again!" said Bisca to Alzack while now crying onto his shoulder.

"It's just who he is, always thinking of someone else's needs and wants before his own." replied Alzack trying to calm down his wife. This of course was still very confusing to little Asuka as she stared up at her parents.

"Daddy what did mommy mean about uncle Natsu being an idiot and us not wanting to see him again?" questioned Asuka now staring directly at her papa.

"Well in the note darling that uncle Natsu left for Mommy and Daddy, he said how much he loved being with you. But since he left the guild he didn't know if we would want to see him anymore or even let you see him anymore." responded Alzack to his daughters question.

"You guys will let me see him again won't you?" asked Asuka sounding a little scared at the prospect of not ever seeing her uncle Natsu ever again, while you could also see the panic now in her eyes.

This caused Bisca to quickly kneel down and hug her daughter saying "Shhh Asuka, of course we would never stop you from seeing uncle Natsu, which is why I called him an idiot." while also stroking her back.

"But he will come back to Fairy Tail right?" asked Asuka, hoping that her parents would tell her that of course Natsu would come back to Fairy Tail.

"Sorry baby girl," replied Alzack, "but that is something that I can't answer, you will have to ask him the next time you see him." now also kneeling down to his daughters height.

"Okay, but when will that be?" asked Asuka now a little teary eyed.

"I don't know honey, it did sound like he wanted to come to your birthday, but maybe you will see him sooner." replied Alzack as he was now patting her on the head.

"But Natsu did leave you, me, and mommy some gifts before he left, this medallion is his first gift for you sweaty." said Alzack while pulling the medallion out of the envelope. Which could now be seen as a dragons head with its mouth spread open like it was roaring, and inside of it was a small gem that looked like it had flames in it, which it probably did considering who it came from. The dragon head looked like it was made out of silver, but that might have been what it was just supposed to look like. It also had a little note stuck to it saying, I know how much fashion matters to girls so I made this medallion especially for Asuka, It can change colors too.

As Alzack was putting it on to his daughter, she asked "What does uncle Natsu mean by it can change colors too?"

"Well Asuka this medallion is not just a normal medallion uncle Natsu made it so that if you were ever in any trouble and me and daddy couldn't help you. All you have to do is think about uncle Natsu really hard and he will come to you as fast as he can. It can also apparently change its color to if you put a little bit of magic into it while thinking about what color you want it to be." said Bisca being a little proud of how she summed up what the medallion could do.

"But that doesn't explain what he meant by too?" questioned Asuka.

"As sharp as ever my little girl, for that we will have to go to the bar and get the money that he gave each of us and the other gifts as well." replied Alzack.

This of course got Asuka to get really excited and run to the bar were Master Makarov was handing out money to the other guild members as fast as her little legs could take her. Once she got there Master let out a little chuckle to himself, seeing at how excited she was and then gave her, her share of the money. But this only caused the little girl to look disappointed, which confused Makarov.

"What's the matter Asuka?" asked the old little Master.

"This wasn't what I was thinking I was going to get from uncle Natsu." replied Asuka even looking sadder now.

"What do you mean?" asked Makarov.

"Well mama and papa said that uncle Natsu left us some gifts and that the one for me could change colors, like this necklace that he gave me." said the little girl now playing with her necklace with her little fingers.

"Oh so that is what got you down." said the Master while chuckling out loud. "Well it is probably one of the things that are on the bar." while motioning to all of the things on the bar to the left of him.

"But which one is supposed to be mine?" asked Asuka now looking at all of the different objects on the bar.

"You will have to look for yourself, or wait until one of your parents come here and show you which one." replied the old man to Asuka.

She really didn't want to wait for her parents so she started the search on her own. There was a few scrolls, some books, three little chests, a black sword and sheath, a sniper rifle and two pistols, which got her really excited about and hoped that they were for her, a few other things that didn't interest her like a green back pack that looked an awfully like what Happy is always wearing. She finally got to the last thing which was some sort of wrapped up present with a card on it. The card read,

 _To Asuka,_

 _Happy birthday, I can't wait until we get to hang out again. And when we do I hope we can try out the present I got you. Hope you enjoy them._

 _From Uncle Natsu,_

 _And Happy_

 _PS. I can't let Happy mooch onto this gift, he doesn't even know what is inside, he just wrote and Happy._

 _Well hope you have a great birthday Asuka._

This caused Asuka to grab the present and start jumping up and down excitedly; she then turned to her parents who just got through the line to get money from Natsu and were heading her way. She quickly asked them quite loudly "Mommy, Daddy can I open the present from Uncle Natsu?" still bouncing around like a bundle of joy.

"I don't know sweat heart, it does clearly say it's for your birthday." said Bisca slightly smiling at how excited her daughter is right now, compared to how she was earlier.

"But that is in like forever!" complained Asuka.

"Well how about this, if you are able to pick out the gifts that uncle Natsu left for me and mommy, then you can open it up, but if you can't then you have to wait for your birthday. How's that sound honey?" asked Alzack, while smiling at his little girl.

Asuka stood there for a few seconds thinking, and came to the decision that there was no harm in trying. "Alright you're on daddy." declared Asuka with the clear intentions of winning and then being able to open up her present.

"Okay honey, what is your first pick?" asked Alzack.

Asuka looked back over all of the items on the bar one more time, just to make sure that she didn't miss anything. She then looked at her parents with huge grin that could almost rival Natsu's grin, and said. "Well the sniper rifle and two pistols silly, uncle Natsu knows that those are the choice weapons of you and mommy." she said with her huge grin still on her face.

"I was right wasn't I daddy, wasn't I?" asked Asuka being very confident with herself right now.

"Yes you were, which means you can open it." responded Alzack as he went over to collect their new guns.

When grabbed them he noticed that these guns were actually the guns that he and Bisca were thinking about upgrading to, when they had enough money. This made him really wonder if Natsu actually got them from some bandits, because they were still in pristine condition, and happened to be the exact ones that he and Bisca were going to get. But he didn't get much more time to think about it because his daughter was now ripping into her present.

As soon as Asuka got the wrapping paper off she couldn't believe her eyes. She didn't just get the gun of her dreams but she got two of them, she got two of the best guns being made, she got two Stingers that she could now call her very own. As she looked at the two guns, with the metal being a pink color that resembled Natsu's hair and the grips on the handle being pure white with the Fairy Tail emblem in the middle of it. One of the emblems looked like it was on fire and saw that on the side the barrel was engraved the word SCORCH, while the other guns emblem looked like it had lightning going all over it, and in the same place that other one had scorch engraved, this one had SPARK. She was instantly in love with these guns and decided that she was never going to go anywhere without them. She then looked up at her parents and started to cry.

"Hey honey what's the matter, I thought that you were going to love your gift from uncle Natsu?" asked Bisca.

"That's the problem mommy they are the best gifts I could have ever gotten, but now I can't even thank uncle Natsu for them." she said while crying her little eyes out.

"Hey darling, it's not like you are never going to see Natsu again, and when you see him the next time you can make sure to tell him how much you loved his gift." replied Alzack trying to calm down his daughter.

"And guess what Asuka, there is still more to his gift." said Alzack with a smile on his face, while looking at his daughter.

"Really, what else is there?" asked Asuka now looking confused.

"Well Asuka, he decided that he was going to put both his fire dragon slayer magic and lighting fire dragon slayer magic into both of them, which means that you will always have uncle Natsu with you. It also makes those guns that you have extremely rare because this is the first time I have ever heard of any dragon slayer magic being put into a gun, which could also mean that those two guns have untold power behind them. And when considering who put the magic in them it is very likely that they might be the strongest guns out there." said Alzack with the biggest smile on his face.

While a few of the guild members that happened to hear this last part, could only think oh dear god, Natsu what have you done, you gave some of your powers to a little girl. This is the end, were so done for, oh no I am going to lose so much money, and other things along those lines.

Alzack continued on with his explanation to his daughter, "You know that this means you are going to have to be extra careful with them, and practice every day with either mommy or daddy, right?"

"Yes daddy I will do whatever I need to do, to keep these guns!" she declared to her father while hugging the guns that were still in the box to her chest.

"Good to hear also that means that each gun can only have three more different types of magic put into them. Oh and he also said in the letter that if you want to change their names, feel free to, it won't hurt his feelings." said Alzack.

"Nope, don't need to the names are already perfect." said Asuka, while she was trying to get the guns out of their boxes.

"Here, let us help." said Bisca taking one of the boxes and starting to open it while Alzack got to work on the other one.

"Thanks mommy and daddy!" chirped Asuka, waiting for them to give her the guns once they are no longer in the box.

"So do you have any ideas, about what other types of magic you want to put into these guns honey?" asked Alzack while almost having it completely ready to give to his daughter.

"Nope, haven't thought of that, I am just so happy to have uncle Natsu's magic!" cheered Asuka. Once again reminding a few of other members that Asuka soon might have the same destructive powers as the great Salamander and all she needed to do was pull a trigger. This of course caused a few of them to become quite nervous.

"Although those are going to probably be your strongest, you might want something not as explosive or lethal. Like sleep magic, or even lightning magic can stun people, and if you don't want either of those ice can come in very handy being able to freeze little areas at a time." said Bisca trying to get her daughter to start thinking of how useful those other magic types would be to have in her guns.

"Hhhhmm." thought the little girl wondering what else she could do with her new guns.

"I think I want all those, but would I be able to have healing magic put in?" asked Asuka looking into her mother's eyes.

"Logically speaking there is no reason you can't, but if you did you are going to have to be extra careful when using it. You don't want hurt yourself or someone else more, when you were only trying to help them." responded Bisca, being very impressed that her daughter thought of that by herself.

"I also think I know what the other two are going to be mommy!" yelled Asuka.

"And what would those two be?" asked Bisca, becoming quite curious of what her daughter picked.

With a huge grin on her face she replied "Air dragon slayer and Lightning dragon slayer magic of course!"

This caused Bisca to start sweating, thinking that it would be way too much for her little girl to have at her disposal. "Well you will only be able to do that if Wendy and Laxus agree to it." said Bisca, somewhat hoping that they would both turn Asuka down.

"No problem!" grinned Asuka up at her mother.

Oh no she might actually be able to get them to do that for her, people really have a hard time saying no to her, thought Bisca. I mean look at what Natsu gave her and she didn't even ask for it.

But just then Alzack finished getting all of the stuff out and the garbage thrown away and was now twirling around SCORCH in his hand. "Hey, Honey could you toss me the other one?" he asked looking at Bisca. She tossed over SPARK, which he effortlessly caught and started to twirl in his other hand. He then thought that he had a brilliant idea and focused some magic into each of the guns causing them to change color. Once he did the pink part of both guns had changed to a different color, SCORCH was now read, while SPARK turned yellow.

"Here you go sweaty, now they are colored after their names." Alzack said while going to go give them to his daughter.

"No change them back, right now!" shouted Asuka at her father.

"Sorry will do sweaty, I didn't know you liked pink that much." inquired Alzack to his daughter, as he changed the guns back and handed them to his little girl.

"It's not pink, it's salmon." declared Asuka as if it was plain as day. "And could you also change my necklace to salmon as well, please daddy."

"What am I going to do with you?" said Alzack as he changed her medallions color to pink.

"Simple!" responded Asuka "You are going to teach me to be the best marksman and gunslinger in all of Earth land!" declared Asuka with a new found determination.

"That is a very lofty goal you have set for yourself, sweat heart." said Bisca looking at her own daughter wondering where she got this new determination from.

"No it isn't, it is just what something that uncle Natsu would say and do if he was in my shoes, which means it is something I can, and will do! And while I am doing that I will be able to show just how strong I have become to uncle Natsu. And the first step to doing that is going to get those other types of magic put into these guns!" she declared to pretty much the whole guild. Then hopped off of her stool and took off to ask certain guild members if they would put a little bit of their magic into her new guns.

Well Bisca thought with determination like that there is no way she won't get the magic she wants.

While a few more guild members had the thought that they just got a new Natsu, she is showing his same determination and drive, while also declaring that her pink guns were not pink but salmon. This of course, was only because Asuka looked up to Natsu so much, and saw him declaring the same thing about his pink hair and wanted to be just like him and now with these new guns she could. But this of course caused a few guild members to chuckle and think, even though they just learned that Natsu left the guild, it seemed like he would always be affecting the guild in some way shape or form. And if some of the guild members had their way Natsu would be back with them by the end of the week, where they believed that he belonged, at Fairy Tail.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes**

 **Well I can tell you right now, this one got a lot longer than I initially planned. But what can I say I am a sucker for Natsu being great with kids and I also enjoy some fluff every once in a while. Also for some reason I imagine Natsu having a ton of money and just not really caring about it, and if he did ever leave the guild he would just give it all away. I also have a question to you readers, but am I the only one who loves it whenever in fairy tail they go to when they were kids, I mean come on that shit is great and I want more of it and they all look so adorable. So thanks again for reading and hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. So feel free to give me a review, which can be just you answering these last few question I asked in the author's note part. And like I said before if someone could give me cover art for this story that would be great.**

 **Until next Chapter**

 **Digem out!**


	8. The Slayers

Chapter 8: The Slayers

 _Dear Laxus._

 _I know that we have not all ways seen eye to eye on many things. But I am glad that after the whole fighting festival thing, I was finally able to knock some sense back into you. You don't know how glad I was that you joined back up with Fairy Tail after the seven year time skip. It meant that there was one more strong person that I could set my sights on to someday surpass, because as we both know that strength isn't based on magical power alone. And believe it or not you were the one that beat it into me when I had just joined the guild. Which is why I was so set on making you remember that during the fighting festival, it wasn't about trying to prove that I was your equal it was all so that you could come back to the guild and be like it used to be when we were kids. Now I am just guessing that you might not remember the day that you taught me that lesson all those years ago, because it probably wasn't that significant to you but it really changed my life for the better, and I can't thank you enough for that. I had just gotten myself beaten by both Mira and Erza, for ruining Erza's cake and being annoying as Mira put it. Of course those things just made me get really angry and start yelling things at the whole guild that they would be sorry if Igneel knew how they were treating me. This caused the whole guild to start laughing at me and telling me that dragons don't exist and you know the rest._

 _So I stormed out of their and headed off to the woods to start training with the sole purpose to become stronger. What you might not know that at that time I was really close to leaving Fairy Tail. I was just so feed up of always being beaten up and no one except for Lisanna believing in me that Igneel was real. Then you came strolling through my training area after I was half dead from training, and asked me what I was doing. I told you that I was training so that one day I would be able to beat, you, Mira, and Erza, so that everyone would have to believe me about Igneel. Your response was to just start laughing at me, which caused me to get even angrier at you. Which you then pointed out to me saying, look here Natsu right now you are showing me that even if you do get really powerful with magic you still won't be stronger than me, you are letting your emotions get the better of you which will cause you to make mistakes in a fight. Now I am not saying that you shouldn't have emotions Natsu, what I am trying to say is that you need to learn how to harness them and use them to your benefit. Oh and a quick pointer for when you fight trust your instincts more, I have been watching a lot of your fights and I can see that you are very observant during your fights and are a quick learner and should rely on those attributes of yourself more. You aren't like the other mages; you aren't a mage that needs to plan ahead. You are able to adapt faster than anyone else I have ever seen, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't ever plan things out, Gramps would kill me if he learned that I told you that you don't need to think ahead and come up with a strategy. You should also learn to let what they say at the guild roll right on over you, I mean come on most of them are drunk and if they aren't then they are just one of those stupid brats that doesn't know anything about the world. If you can do that you will then start seeing Fairy Tail as the family that you never got to have. I mean live a little Natsu, smile like you used to when you first came to the guild, and just so you know Lisanna isn't the only one that believes you about being trained by Igneel. And as you were leaving you said, Oh and if you tell anyone about our conversation Natsu, I will have to kill you, so I guess I will see you around the guild Natsu. And after that you were gone._

 _And as you know I didn't leave the guild back then, and from that day forward I have done pretty much all of those things and you were right about them all, especially about them becoming my family. Oh and as per your request no one knows about that speech that you gave me back then, mainly because I was really afraid of you back then. I was really tempted to tell Gramps that you were the one who gave me the hints about my fighting style, of just diving straight in, because right after that I started to destroy more stuff on my jobs. Which if you think about it, all of the things that I destroyed over the years can be traced back to that day and the blame lands squarely on your shoulders, Laxus my man. But now it seems like it is my time to branch out and do something else, which I hope you can understand since you too had some time away from Fairy Tail, and it would seem that this is now my time. So I am now counting on you and a few other people to keep Fairy Tail alive and strong in my absence. And who knows I might come back someday wanting to join and you might even be the new Master at that point. So I know this is going to kind of be weird but I did get you a gift, which is a new headphone set because you and me both know that the one you keep carrying around with you right now is broken, and has been so for a long time. Now I know that you have kept it around for sentimental reason, you big old softy, whom I completely understand I mean look at my scarf, it was the last gift that Igneel gave me. So I can understand why you have kept those headphones around so long, they were the last gift that Lisanna gave to you before we thought that she died. But hey she is back with us now so make a move on her man you don't want to miss out if she happens to be your mate, now do yoy? Shit how did I start talking about girls with you of all people, oh yeah the headphones, well I got you a new pair because it was the only thing that I could think of that you might actually like. They should be in the chest ant would be really hard to miss, oh and that medallion that was with this note, I thought that I should leave some way for you to get into contact if you need me, which I find it hard to believe that you ever will, but you never know. Better to always be safe, I think Erza says when she is packing that huge cart of hers, and have it then to not have it at all. All you need to do is destroy it which shouldn't be hard for you, and then I will know that you need my help and will get there as soon as possible._

 _Oh and just so you know, no hard feels about the whole exam thing. I saw how you were somewhat regretting not letting me pass, which became pretty obvious when you didn't tell me to shut up and listen to Gramps. You don't know how much that little action means to me right now. I have never told you that I have always seen you as a big brother figure right. Well if I haven't I did just now, see you around big bro, and you should talk with her some at least._

 _Natsu Dragneel._

Laxus quickly wiped away a single tear so that no one would notice and thought to himself. I do remember that day Natsu, at least now, and I don't really want to believe that it I was one of the main reasons that you turned into who you are today. But if it is true then maybe there is still hope for me, too one day become the Master of Fairy Tail, and if that day ever comes I hope you know that you will always be welcome at Fairy Tail. And thank Mavis, that you didn't tell Gramps about that, Laxus thought while chuckling to himself.

He then got out the medallion that Natsu left him, that was just a simple circle that had a dragon on it, which looked like it was chasing its tail with its wings spread wide. All of this was set on the background of flames, but there was no color to this medallion it was all just simple silver. As Laxus looked at it he thought, not bad Natsu, not bad and quickly put it over his head and let it fall down to where it could no longer be seen. He then made his way to the bar to see these headphones Natsu got him.

Once he got to the bar he easily spotted them, they were pretty much the newest version of the pair that he has always kept with him. Pretty much the same design with a few small changes here or there, they were the same colors as his old ones and even still had the spike on each side. The only major difference was that on the inside of them where the speakers were there was now a gold Fairy Tail emblem. Laxus looked at the new ones and then back at the old ones, he kept on doing this for a few minutes, but when he looked up he saw that Lisanna was smiling at him, which almost caused Laxus to blush. Right then he decided two things, first that he was going to now use the new headphones, which he did by replacing the old ones, but decided to still hold on to them so he slipped them into his coats inner pocket. The second thing that he decided that Natsu was right, and that he was going to go and talk to Lisanna as soon as she was free.

This once again caused Laxus to chuckle out loud, thinking how in the world this happened, Natsu Dragneel the poster child for being clueless about women gave him advice, and the worst part he was actually listening to him. Which made Laxus start wondering if Natsu was as clueless as everybody thought he was in that area, no he couldn't be, could he, thought Laxus. But then Laxus decided that it truly didn't matter to him, but he was still curious, so he walked off to his table on the second floor laughing to himself, waiting for Lisanna to be alone so that he could talk to her.

 _Dear Gajeel,_

 _Or should I say metal head. Man have we had some fun together haven't we, looking at how we interact with each other now no one would be able to tell that when we first met one another we were out for blood. But as Master always said yesterday's enemies are tomorrow's friends, and boy was he right with you. Think about all of the times that we had to team up together just so that neither one of us would die, the whole fighting festival against Laxus, the against the King of Edolas, also during the Grand Magic Games when I pushed you on that cart, oh my god I am laughing right now just thinking about it. To think that the first things we said to one another when we were just became guild mates was that we both were never going to work with the other one, it's funny how fate has a way of proving you wrong when you thought something. Like how I thought that I was always going to be a Fairy Tail member._

 _Boy was I so wrong on that one, and because of that I need to ask you to do a huge favor for me. Could you keep an eye out on Fairy Tail, you know how they are always getting into big trouble and life or death situations, but hopefully since I won't be around that shouldn't happen as often anymore. But knowing that you are there if something does happen will make me feel a lot better. Oh and I know I don't even need to ask you this because I know that you care about her just as much I do. But please look out for Wendy, try to make sure that she doesn't turn out like you or me, Mavis help us if that happens. Make sure that when she starts looking for a mate that he is up to your standards I trust that they are pretty similar to mine. Also make sure that she knows that this is not her fault in any way shape or form that I left. I have of course told her this in the letter that I wrote her, but you know how she is always trying to take the blame when anything goes wrong. Don't let her do that this time, or so help me the next time I see you I will kick your ass all across Fiore and back again._

 _Oh and congratulations on being promoted to S-Class you earned it man, I never got to say that to you did I? Well I did now, and thanks for not being an asshole about it, like some stripper that we both know. Oh and also thanks for not siding with the master like most of the guild that means a lot to me. So I thought about getting you something but honestly I couldn't think of anything to get you except for some rare metals that I have started to collect ever since you became part of our family and part of the very exclusive dragon slayer family of Fairy Tail. So yea it is in one of the smaller chests and should open up to just you. I at one point was going to give you a medallion so that you could get in touch with me but then I realized that there was no way in hell you would ever ask for my help, that stupid dragon slayer pride that we both have would rather have us die than ask the other for help. Also you would have probably just ate it anyways, so I guess if you do need to reach me you will have to ask someone else, perhaps Levy. Oh and you better tell me when you two finally decide to get married, otherwise the whole kicking your ass across Fiore threat again._

 _Oh and don't even try to follow after me and try to bring me back. You and I both know that I am the better tracker and if I don't want to be found then I won't be. And right now that is how I am feeling. Oh and I know that you are not for any of that sentimental bullshit, but sorry Gajeel I feel the need to tell you that I see you as my brother, it just had to be said. So until we meet again._

 _From the Salamander_

 _PS. I just thought of the best gift I could give to you, every time we met up we can fight to see who is the strongest and see how far we are both coming along. That is only if you want to, it is all up to Blacksteel._

Geehee was Gajeel response after reading the whole letter. Of course I will watch over Fairy Tail you idiot, they are my family now too and you know what a dragon will do for his family, thought Gajeel, I mean come on Salamander you are a perfect example of what a dragon will do. He also thought about what the Salamander said about Wendy and came to the conclusion that he was right and she was going to try and take the blame for this. Dammit Salamander we are so going to fight when we see each other again thought Gajeel as he made his way to the bar.

Once there he was given some money and then found the chest that opened up for him, considering that there was only three of them it wasn't hard to find. He then made it back to his table where Levy was still sitting there and reading Natsu's letter to her occasionally letting out a small sob every now and again. He then started to taste test some of the metal that the Salamander had given him thinking, Dam you are so going to pay for making my mate cry, but dear Mavis all of these metals taste fucking awesome.

 _Dear Wendy_

 _I need to say this right away but none of this was your fault; there was absolutely nothing that you could have done to stop this. Oh and just so you know I told Gajeel to make sure that you understand that it isn't your fault, so if you don't want to deal with his terrible methods of trying to cheer you up and making sure that you don't blame yourself, then you are going to have to be the strong sky dragon that both me and Gajeel know that you are and get through this. Also it's not like I died or anything I will still be around I just won't be a part of Fairy Tail anymore, and no you can't quit also just to come after me. Fairy Tail will need you; they wouldn't be able to deal with losing two of their strongest wizards if you came after me. They would probably have to shut down and then poor Gajeel wouldn't be able to find any work and would probably starve to death which when you think about it would be pretty impressive considering he can eat any sort of metal and that stuff can be found everywhere._

 _So Wendy I wanted to let you know that since I first met you, I instantly saw you as my little sister and was willing to do anything for you and wanted to make sure that you are safe. Which is why I want to apologize for the whole Edolas thing again and I know you said that it was okay, but I feel like because of that I have failed you as a big brother. Know you are right now thinking no you didn't Natsu, and you are probably right but it is something that I don't think I will ever be able to stop regretting. But let's move on to happier things, like the things that I will be leaving behind for you._

 _The first thing that I will be giving to you is my little cottage out in the woods, under the one condition that if Happy still wants to live there with you he can. Now I know that you would have no problem with that because you love him almost as much as I do. But there is a certain exceed I know that might not be okay with it. The deed for it should be a small roll of paper tied with a red ribbon and keys. If you do choose to except the cottage feel free to make it your own, do any home improvements to it that you want. It is completely paid off which might take some of the stress off of your shoulders not having to worry about paying rent, all I can say is that not having to ever pay rent made me feel really relaxed most of the time. I wonder if that is why most people always seem to be on edge or stressed when compared to me, whatever, that is something that you can figure out for yourself. All I do know is that it is definitely not making Lucy look any younger always stressing over rent._

 _So another one of the gifts that I am leaving you are some scrolls that I found on one of my quests, one contains some pretty complex air moves on them, while another one has some healing techniques on them that I have no idea if they will be of any use to you at all. The final scroll is something I made and am pretty proud of, it contains my entire dragon slayer moves, even the secret arts and forbidden moves, on it and how I preform each one of them. This is very valuable and am only trusting it to you, it is written in the draconic language which I sure hope you remember, if not I just gave Levy a book that should be able to teach you again. So the reason that I am giving this one to you is that I am confident that you will be able to learn all of those moves while applying them to your sky magic. It is definitely going to be tough at the beginning but I have complete faith in you Wendy. And when we meet up again you will be able to show me all of the moves you have learned._

 _The last and final gift that I am giving you is a really special one. I have been giving most of the people who received letters some way of contacting me, but yours is one of two that I am giving that will allow you to actually speak directly to me. It is an armband in the chest you won't be able to miss it, it has three dragons on it. So let me explain how this on works, in order to call me all you have to do is push down on the head of the red dragon, and as long as I am free it will set up a telepathic link between us, oh and it will draw off of your magic to accomplish this. Now on my end I have a device that allows me to turn on or off these calls, if I have it set off it probably means that I am doing some sort of mission or something like that, if that is the case my device will show me that I missed a call from you and I will try and call you back and soon as possible. I am told that for you to answer a call from me it is the same as you calling me just touch the red dragon's head when the armband heats up, it should feel like my magic. The last and final thing that this armband can do is mainly for me since I will always be concerned about you, is if it gets destroyed or can no longer detect your magic it will pretty much send a distress signal alerting me of your last known location, and then I will be there as soon as possible. And if you are concerned about sleeping with it on it should be able to still detect your magic as long as you are in the same room, which reminds me about another two cool features it has, dam this armband is complicated. It can fit anyone which means, as you grow it will grow with you, and the final feature is that it will only come off if you want it to come off, unless someone breaks it of course but that means that they will then have to deal with me. And I will most likely not be a happy camper, so that is about it Wendy, oh and don't tell anyone about all the stuff the armband can actually do, because there is a good chance that they would then start pestering you to use it and this is mainly intended for you and me too keep in touch. Of course you can tell the two exceeds as long as you think they can keep it a secret. So I will talk with you later Wendy, I am assuming that you will probably call me tonight after you leave the guild, if so I definitely will answer._

 _Love Natsu Dragneel_

As Wendy started to read she started to cry, but that soon turned into little giggles at what Natsu-san was saying to her in the letter. It was really just like having a conversation with him at the beginning. And only Natsu-san could get Wendy to smile and giggle at such a sad moment for her, but he knew how to do it by making fun of Gajeel-san while also telling her how strong he thought she was. She once again got a little sad at the part that he considered her his little sister and that he thought that he let her down, and just like he said in his letter, in her opinion he could not have been more wrong. He was the best big brother that she could have asked for. He instantly accepted her and then brought her back with him to his family, at one of the lowest points in her life, and gave her a new family that cared deeply for her.

The next part of the letter really startled Wendy, within a few seconds she got her own home completely paid off. She also got new things to learn that were going to help her get stronger, but from these new learning materials by far the one that she cared the most about getting and keeping safe was Natsu-san's homemade scrolls with all of his moves. This truly showed how much Natsu-san loved her and thought of her as his sister; it was pretty much the equivalent of actually adopting her as his sister. Because these were the moves that Igneel taught Natsu-nii, and a few that he came up with on his own, and in the dragon community you only passed on your moves to family. Reading this part about him passing on his moves to her, brought her tears of joy and she decided that there was no way anyone else was going to get their hands on that scroll, and that she was going to master all of those moves as fast as she humanly could.

The last gift that Natsu-nii was giving her, made her have a huge smile on her face after she reading all that it could do. It was just about as good as getting his moves; she really couldn't decide which one she liked more. The armband was going to allow her to keep in contact with Natsu-nii whenever she wanted, and if anything bad happened she now knew that he would come and save her, which was actually one of her major concerns with Natsu-nii leaving. She thought that it meant that he might not care about her anymore, which would have killed little Wendy. But thankfully she didn't even have to think about that anymore after the last two gifts she was receiving from him.

So with a smile on her face now Wendy made her way to the bar to make sure that she got all of the gifts that Natsu-nii left her. As she got there, Master Makarov had to ask her why she was so happy right now while everyone else was so sad, he thought that with what just happened that she would be an inconsolable wreck. But here she was walking with her head held high and even a smile on her face.

"Wendy I am glad to see that you are taking this better than I would have ever suspected, but do you mind me asking why or how?" asked Master Makarov while giving her the money that Natsu was giving to everyone.

"Not at all Master, let's just say that I now feel like I am a Dragneel!" she replied happily while now looking for all of the gifts that Natsu left for her.

"How so?" asked Makarov "If you once again don't mind me asking Wendy?" while he looked at her, being truly lost on what was going on. Just learning a bit ago that Natsu left the guild, to now Wendy saying she feels like she is now a Dragneel, whatever that means.

"Well it is actually hard to explain Master without telling you, which I can't." Wendy replied while sliding the armband to the middle of her right bicep. The armband had a gold trim with a blue and white background that looked like the sky with clouds, and over top of this were three dragons that were chasing one another, a white one, grey one, and finally the red one. Which she made sure was situated on her arm so that she could easily press its red head if she needed to. When Wendy first looked at it her smile grew even more, because she now realized that the three dragons represented her, Gajeel-san, and Natsu-nii. This really warmed her heart again that Natsu-nii put so much thought and effort into this gift for her.

"Let's just say Natsu-nii is giving me something that in the dragon community you only give to family." said Wendy becoming proud that she was able to answer the question, while also not giving away what Natsu-nii gave her.

She then grabbed the deed with keys and the three scrolls said to the Master, "If that is all, I have a lot to do, I have to move into my new place, relearn draconic, and a whole lot of training to do so I don't disappoint Natsu-nii."

"Oh no I don't have anything for you to do, well good luck on all of that." replied Makarov being once again surprised at how Natsu's departure was affecting people. Thinking as he watched Wendy head to the table that had all three exceeds at it with also Gajeel and Levy. Makarov couldn't help but think, and be amazed at how positive some guild members were becoming after reading their personal letters from Natsu, which made him really curious at what they contained. Some members like Wendy, Romeo, and Asuka looked like they were ready to take on the world after Natsu's letter and gifts. While some members seemed to just go back to their normal selves like Gajeel and Grey. One member's reaction that really concerned the Master was Laxus, he was chuckling while reading it and once he got his new headphones he was actually laughing as he went off to the second floor. One thing that Makarov new about his grandson was that he never genuinely laughs at anything, it is hard as hell to get him to even chuckle, and here he was doing both of those genuinely after reading Natsu's letter and getting his gift.

He really wanted to read Laxus's letter, but unfortunately not all of his letters seemed to have such positive effects, such as Happy, Lucy, and Erza. There letters seemed to just make the sadder, but they didn't have the worst reaction. That honor seemed to go to Mira which really surprised Makarov; he thought that the other Strauss girl would be taking it harder.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Well once again didn't plan on it being that long, but what can I say. I like these letters because they allow me to do some flashbacks if I want, while also establishing the relationships between Natsu and some of the characters at the guild. But don't worry I should be able to hopefully finish all of the letters within the next three chapters, and then we will once again return to Natsu and see what his plans are. I am probably going to make this somewhat a NatsuXMira, but I don't know how good I will be at that so we will have to wait and see. As always feel free to leave any sort of feedback.**

 **Until next Chapter**

 **Digem out!**


	9. Remnants of Team Natsu

Chapter 9: Remnants of Team Natsu

 **Author's note:**

 **Hey a quick heads up in this story, since these three characters interact with each other, I wanted to make sure that you know before reading that these three parts are pretty much happening at the same time, all parts start with the letter to that person. Just so you know when you get to a new part it was pretty much happening at the same time as the other part. I hope that this makes sense and isn't just confusing anyone more. I think that it should have been easily picked up in my story that they were all happening at the same time or I at least hoped so, but I just wanted to make sure, so enjoy.**

 _Dear Lucy,_

 _What can I say; I know that right now you are probably pretty mad at me right now. I guess you have every right to be, I did say that I would always be there when you needed me, but I am not there for you now. But in my opinion I still haven't actually gone back on that, and by that I mean, you don't need me anymore Lucy. Just look at how far you have come since we first met each other, what was it now, almost ten years ago at Hargeon. Well if you want to be technical it was only actually three years for us, which makes it all the more impressive. I mean look at all the spirits that you have now, you almost have all of the 12 golden keys that you get so excited about. Which might I add has actually gotten us into trouble a few times! But back to you no longer needing me, I mean come on how many spirits can you have out at once now, isn't it three which is completely unheard of and I believe that you will be able to get even more._

 _Man all of this writing that I had to do to while make all of these letters is finally getting to me I think. And I am pretty sure you would be giving me a lecture on the proper way of writing letters right now if I was at the guild. You and I both know you would, you would probably be telling me that I shouldn't be wright absolutely everything that comes into my head, and you would probably be right, but guess what Lucy that is just not me. And have I ever really listened to what other people tell me to do, No way in Hell would I do that and I don't think I am going to start now hahaha. But I guess that is what got me to this exact point, where I am now leaving Fairy Tail and don't know if I will ever come back. But hey keep that chin up, it doesn't mean that I will never be around all it just means is that you won't see me every single day of your life, like you have for the past three years. Even if some of those days you didn't want to see me._

 _But hey look on the bright side of things Lucy! No more me and Happy breaking into your place when you are not there, I guess we also did that even if you were there, I know that I have said this before but you should have seen your face, man was it usually hilarious. Now back to the good aspects of me not being there anymore and away from your weird facial expressions. I won't be eating all of your food or trying to read your novel or looking through all of your personal belongings, oh and how could I forget probably the best part I won't be destroying everything on jobs anymore which means you will be able to get more of the reward money. I do want to make one thing clear, just in case we don't actually ever see each other again, and that is I did all of those things because it was just so much fun for me to be around you, you made me see the world as not so dark of a place when we still thought Lisanna was dead, just wanted you to know that._

 _I have just a few more things to say and then I will be done. First I talked with your landlady and the next three years are paid off for you and if you decided to move she will reimburse you for whatever is left fully. I honestly don't know why you always made her sound like she was some sort of monster, she was so nice to me she even gave me lunch. Oh the last thing is that there should be a business card in the envelope, a guy gave it to me after I saved his life or something after me and Happy finished a different job on our own. I think he said he works for some sort of publisher or something like that and at that he is always looking for new authors so if I know any, send them his way and to tell them to just mention my name, so that you can get in the door and talk with him. He said that it was the least that he could do, since he owes me or something, but I guess that is it._

 _Until we meet again_

 _Natsu Dragneel._

Lucy was bawling the whole time reading it; she just couldn't believe that Natsu had left Fairy Tail. He was the one that brought her here, he was the one that gave her the opportunity to have a new family, which is something that some people never get to have and she was lucky enough to get it twice in her life. Natsu had always been there since she joined and she honestly couldn't imagine the guild without him. He was always the life of the party, always trying to make sure that everyone was happy, even though sometimes it was annoying, but know that it looked like he was going to be gone she was sure that she would much rather deal with him being slightly annoying than dealing with him not being there at all.

Lucy was now feeling extremely bad when she started to read all of Natsu's positive aspects of him being gone. She could only think that Natsu was probably thinking that Lucy hated all of that and she could only think that this factored into his decision to leave the guild. A part of her knew that Natsu wouldn't think like that but right now she couldn't help herself, she needed someone to blame and that someone was herself. Right now all she wanted to do was find Natsu and tell him how wrong he was, she didn't hate any of those things that she did, she actually loved them, it made her feel loved and wanted, while also making life interesting. Now that he was gone she knew that her life at Fairy Tail was going to become drastically more boring.

Even when he was the one leaving Natsu decided to give gifts and money to his old guild members, which Lucy felt like it should be the other way around. Especially when considering how much he has already done for the guild, he has helped each and every guild in some way shape or form at one point in their life. And once again he seemed to be trying to help most of the members at least one more time as he was leaving. Lucy couldn't believe that he paid for the next three years to her landlady, but oh no he didn't stop there he also gave her the contact that she needed to try and get her novel published which she was really grateful for.

She also couldn't get over the fact that he put in that part were it sounded like he might not ever see her again, when he said earlier in the note that it wasn't like she was never going to see him again. It just didn't make any sense for him to then go and say that confusing comment about just in case they don't meet again. All Lucy felt like she could do was just sit there and cry over the fact, which in her opinion, that she helped drive Natsu away. So that is exactly what Lucy did she just sat there rereading the letter and crying.

 _Dear Erza,_

 _I am going to try and keep this short and to the point, because I know that is what you prefer. I just wanted to let you know that you were a great older sister that a guy like me couldn't have asked for a better one. You were always there for me and were also someone for me to try and surpass, you were also the one that taught me to read and write which I can never thank you enough for. Granted I could have done with less of you brutal beatings for no good reason, but hey I guess you just took tough love to the extreme, like you do with everything in your life, but hey that is just who you are. So I am leaving the guild in your very capable hands and I know that you will guard them as strongly as if I was still there. Also I want you to remember what I told you after the Tower of Heaven, I know that you remember it, but I am going to say it again Erza. You don't die for your friends, you live for them, and don't you ever forget it, because I know for sure that I won't._

 _So I hope that you know that there are no hard feelings between us and about the whole not thinking I am ready for S-Class, but it did really hurt that you have that little faith in me. I can't believe that after all that we have been through you still don't believe in my skills and over all me, meaning I am not S-Class material and probably will never be in your eyes, but hey I will get over it with time. Like, I have done with everything else in my life, so now to the gift that I left you. It is a really important to me, it was the only other gift that Igneel gave me when he first left me, the only reason no one knew about it was because since I don't use a sword I have never used it. But since I have no idea where I'm going to end up I thought that it was about time to give it to someone who knows how to use it and will take good care of it._

 _It is the only sword in the chest, so you should be able to find it with no problems; Igneel said its name was TALON which I think is an okay name for a sword. And as I said earlier it was a gift from Igneel to me, and it is not your ordinary sword it is made from some of Igneel's scales that fell off. TALON will never need sharpening and should be near unbreakable since it was made from his scales, oh and it also can absorb fire like how I can eat it, which also powers it up and allows fire based attack with the TALON. Just a warning I don't know how much it can hold but it is a lot, I have been putting all of my extra magic into it every night that I am home and it is only about half full, which means it can hold a shit ton of fire in it. Oh that reminds me I didn't tell you how to see if it is getting close to full, well Igneel told me when the part on the blade where black meets red, when those two are no longer touching because of them being separated by orange. That is when it is completely full and right now the orange line is only half way down the blade right now. So take good care of it for me Erza and I guess I will see you when I see you._

 _Natsu Dragneel_

Erza didn't start reading her letter right away like everyone else; she just stood there trying to get a grasp on what was happening. She just stood there remembering about all of the times that she spent with Natsu and all of the time that he was there for her when she needed I true friend. She remembered all of the times that Natsu came through for the guild despite the fact that all of the odds were stacked against him. This caused her to start to get angry at Natsu for leaving, you don't leave family she thought as she was getting so worked up, and was ready to go after the idiot and bring him back to the guild so that he could receive the beating of a life time. That was what she was going to do until Mira came over to her and the rest of Team Natsu, and had a few words with them.

After Mira stormed out of the guild, Erza still just stood there trying to come to grips on everything that was happening and be in control of her emotions. So she decided that she definitely needed to think on Mira's comments and maybe read Natsu's letter to her, so she sat down at the table with the rest of her team, noticing that Lucy was crying even harder after Mira paid them a visit, she knew that right now she wasn't going to be able to help Lucy so she decided to read her letter.

Once she was done reading it she felt terrible, it wasn't like he said anything bad or mean to her in the letter. Actually if anything Natsu was extremely nice to her, much more than she now thought that she deserved, considering how she always treated him, especially just recently. But what really got her was how he wrote, it wasn't like him at all it was straight and to the point, which is completely unlike his normal writing style which is usually energetic and usually very similar to how he talks with people usually full of energy and life. This letter did not have those qualities of his normal writing, and she would definitely notice considering she was the one to teach him. So she decided that she might as well go and get the sword that he left her and maybe talk with the Master about this whole situation.

As she walked up to the bar she noticed that all of the other gifts and money that Natsu left were gone except an unopened small chest, another small chest that was plump full of rare gems sitting next to Master Makarov. That was when she noticed that in the Masters outstretched hands was a red and black handled katana in a black sheath with a red dragon on the side of it. Upon closer inspection the end of the handle was shaped like a dragons head and the guard on the handle looked like wings. The Master handed her the sword saying.

"Here's your gift and money Erza." while not looking like he was in the best of moods, when considering what they all just learned today who could blame him.

"How do you know that this gift was for me Master?" questioned Erza, trying to keep her emotions in check.

"Come on Erza, who else would Natsu give a sword to?" said Master while putting on a fake smile trying to lighten the mood a little.

"You do have a point there Master. So what do you plan on doing Master?" she said taking the blade out to see how it feels in her hands and figure out its weight. It was surprisingly light considering it was quite a bit longer than your average katana. She also took note of the orange line that was only halfway down the blade like Natsu said.

"What do you mean, what do I plan on doing?" questioned Makarov right back to Erza.

"I mean how do we plan on bringing Natsu back to Fairy Tail Master, I didn't think that I would have to spell it out for you." replied Erza shocked that she even had to actually ask that question. I mean come on, of course they had to bring him back, and the guild just wouldn't be the same without him.

"That is very simple Erza, Nothing." he said with his head down and now clearly looking ashamed.

"Nothing you can't be serious Master?" Erza shouted at Makarov as TALON burst into flames, causing him to be startled.

"Calm down Erza and put that sword away before you burn the whole place down!" replied the Master shocked at how much raw power the sword was emitting, not to mention the intensity of the flames.

"Please explain Master?" Erza said clearly not calming down at all, while putting the sword in its sheath causing the flames and power that it was radiating to vanish. She then replaced her old sword that she always had with her with TALON.

"It is just as I said Erza, I will not be ordering anyone to go after Natsu, he chose to leave and we can't force him to stay." answered Makarov.

"But Master this isn't right, we need Natsu at Fairy Tail." replied the still angry Erza.

"I do agree that this isn't right, but we are to blame for that Erza, you heard what Mira said, we were just too stubborn or ignorant to notice." said Makarov once again ashamed of himself.

"Then why don't we get him and show him that we are sorry Master?" asked Erza.

"That is if you can even find him Erza." replied Makarov.

"What's that supposed to mean Master?" inquired Erza wondering why they wouldn't be able to find their dragon slayer who usually leaves a path of destruction in his wake.

"Well Erza, Gajeel told me that Natsu informed him in his letter that it would be useless to try and find him, and according to Gajeel if Natsu doesn't want to be found, then even he won't be able to find him." said Makarov while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well that just means I will have to find him." replied Erza very confident in herself.

"Let's say that you are able to find him Erza, what if he still doesn't want to come back?" asked Makarov wanting to know her plans.

"Simple, I will then use force and bring him back to us." said Erza thinking that it was just that simple.

"First off do you even think you can beat him still Erza? Okay let's just say that you do beat him and drag him back here, what then, we apologize to him but what if he still wants to leave? Are you going to keep beating him up and forcing him to stay here Erza, if so I can guarantee that he won't be the same Natsu that we know now, it could cause him to hate us even more than he does now." said Master Makarov to the knight before him.

"Do you think that Natsu hates us?" asked Erza as she was teetering closer and closer to crying, right there in the guild.

"Sorry Erza, I am confident that he doesn't hate you guys, it's Natsu we're talking about here. He barely knows how to hate anyone if we are completely honest here. But like I said if we try to force him to do something that he doesn't want to, then he could easily start to hate us." replied Makarov trying to calm Erza down.

"Okay Master thanks for pointing all of that out to me, I was being rash and wanted to get results as quick as possible. But I do have one question, why did you not us but said you guys, when saying that he doesn't hate us?" questioned Erza after thinking back on all that the Master had said to her.

"As keen as ever Erza when you have a calm head on you. Well it pains me to say this but, I honestly think that Natsu might hate me. And to be frank I wouldn't blame him, but as I said before he probably doesn't hate the rest of you. Hopefully if he does hate anyone it's me, it would definitely be better that way, and since I am the guild Master it should be directed at me and not you brats. Because I failed him." said Master Makarov now crying at his failures, and causing one of his brats to leave and in the process hurting the rest of his brats. He couldn't blame Natsu about that either, because he knows that Natsu needs this, after what he did or you could say didn't do for him.

"It's okay Master, like you said earlier its Natsu were talking about here. He won't hate you and if he does it won't be for that long." said Erza now trying to do for the Master, what he just did for her earlier.

"I hope you are right Erza." he said now going to get a beer, and man did he need it. "So what are you plans now after this little chat Erza?" asked the Master, hoping she is now seeing reason and common sense.

"Simple, I am going to find Natsu!" Erza said now smiling.

"What, did you not even listen while we were just talking Erza?" shouted Makarov after doing a spit take with is beer.

"Of course I listened Master, which is why once I find him I am just going to have a conversation with him. Just so that there isn't any misunderstandings between us." replied Erza with a new look of determination in her eyes.

"Glad to hear that our conversation wasn't a complete waste Erza. Oh and if you could, before you go would you please take this to Mira I am confident that its Natsu's gift to her, since she ran out of here before she knew that it was hers. Oh and could you try to also smooth things over between your team and her?" said Master Makarov while handing over the only small chest yet to be opened.

"She will definitely get this gift, and I will try to fix our relationship, but I don't know if I will be able to for the others. I honestly don't know if I will be able to patch things up between us." said Erza looking really down.

"I didn't expect you to fix her relationship with them; they know that they need to do that. I also know that you guys will figure out how to repair this." said the Master.

"How do you know that we will be able too, she was pretty mad at us Master?" replied Erza.

"Easy Erza, because we are Fairy Tail wizard and we always accomplish what we set out to do, and you better hurry the rest of your team is waiting for you." replied Makarov.

"What do you mean team?" questioned Erza.

"Those two, they have been waiting at the door almost for the whole time that we have been talking." said Master Makarov while pointing at the door. Where, Grey and Lucy stood waiting for Erza to finish her conversation with the Master.

"What are they waiting for?" asked Erza.

"You to finish talking with me, so that you guys can all go looking for Natsu together I assume. Now go, they are waiting for you." replied the Master, and then took a big drink from his beer.

"Thanks Master." replied Erza as she took off to go meet up with Grey and Lucy.

 _Dear Stripper_

 _I can only assume that you are already down to your boxers while reading this. You and I both know that we communicate better with each other with our fists, and man did I love that about our friendship. So I am going to say a few things that I don't know if I could express with punches, so here I go man. You know that you are like a brother to me and that you were my best friend at the guild for a long time while also being my rival. I can say for sure that there is no better person out there than you, to be my rival. You were always forcing me to grow stronger so that I wouldn't lose to some ice cube._

 _Oh I bet you are one of the few people not freaking out about my departure from the guild right now, am I right take a quick look around for me. I bet that some funny things are happening there right now, man I can almost imagine it now, I bet there are a few people crying and that is something that I wish didn't have to happen, but hey you can't control someone's emotions. Which brings me to my final words for you Grey, and yes this is so serious that I am actually using your name rather than calling you; ice cube, ice princess, or stripper._

 _You need to confront Juvia and tell her how you feel about her and make sure that she knows, now I honestly have no idea how you feel about her, but what I do know is that you can't and I won't let you keep leading her on like this, because that would make you one really selfish prick. And yes I did say that I won't let you keep doing what you are doing right now to her, because if you do so help me Mavis I will come back there and do what I should have done to you after that thing with that crazy bitch and her robot dragon. So man up and tell her how you feel oh and if you don't have feelings let her down without being your normal self which is an asshole, because if you do treat her bad it is the same results as leading her on, and let me tell you, you would not like the end result. And trust me I will know one way or another on what happens between you two, you have one month Grey. Oh and congrats on becoming S-Class Stripper_

 _From Flame Brain_

Grey read Natsu's letter to him and had a smile on his face while reading the first two parts, which quickly vanished when he got to the third and final part of the letter. Grey didn't know if it was because of hearing from Wendy last night that if he did that to her she would have killed, but all he knows now is he was starting to shiver just thinking about what Natsu would do. This is very significant because since Grey is an Ice mage he doesn't get cold or shiver, but thinking about how Natsu would probably slowly torture him to death with his flames. He decided that he wasn't going to find out, he was definitely going to confront Juvia and get everything out in the open.

Just then Mira came over and started to rip into him and the rest of Team Natsu. Of course this made him feel even worse than he already did, he thought back and realized that at the beginning of this day he planned on apologizing in front of the whole guild to Natsu. And now he's gone and Mira is extremely pissed off at him, which he needs to try and fix fast. So he sat down at the table with Erza and Lucy, who were both reading their letters from Natsu and Lucy started to cry harder after Mira's visit. Grey was confident that Erza was just now reading her letter for the first time, while Lucy on the other hand seemed to keep on rereading the letter getting sadder and sadder.

Grey felt the need to stop Lucy and make her feel better. Just as he was about to say something to the two girls at the table Erza stood up and went to talk to the Master. Which left just Grey and Lucy at the table alone, to think to themselves. But Grey decided he was sick of thinking to himself.

"Hey Lucy, you know it's not your fault right?" Grey called out to Lucy.

"And how do you know that Grey!" she snapped back at him.

"Because if it was anyone's fault it would be mine, I mean come on look at how I have treated him. Even after he saved my life, I mean what kind of piece of shit does that to someone who has saved their life." replied Grey, just feeling absolutely terrible about himself.

"Hey, Grey that happened like forever ago and it seems like Natsu has completely forgiven you about that." said Lucy now taking a break from her pity party that she used to be having. Now being distracted enough to not think about it and just wanted to help her friend.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that Lucy." chuckled Grey.

"What makes you say that Grey?" asked Lucy.

"Here, read his letter he wrote to me." said Grey as he passed the letter over to Lucy. Which she quickly read, and was taken back a little bit by it.

"Well, you are right that he still remembers it, but we are only interpreting it as really bad because of what Wendy told us, otherwise we both would have just interpreted that as him beating the shit out of you, right?" said Lucy looking at him hoping that what she said to him was what Natsu meant.

"I hope you are right Lucy, man do I hope you are right." he said while now looking at Juvia, which didn't go unnoticed by Lucy.

"So what are you going to do Grey?" asked Lucy while sporting a small smirk.

"About what?" asked Grey while turning back to look at Lucy.

"About Juvia?" asked Lucy now acting like a little girl, wanting to know who likes who?

"Well I am definitely going to do something, I sure as hell don't want to figure out if you were right and Natsu only meant kicking my ass. Way too risky." replied Grey as another shiver went up his spine.

"Well do you like her?" asked Lucy.

"You will have to wait and see, hey lets go wait by the door." replied Grey.

"Why would we wait there?" questioned Lucy.

"Well because I assume that you probably want to go find Flame Brain, and I have a very strong feeling that is exactly what Erza went to talk to the Master about. Which means once she is done talking with him we can join up with her on our search for that idiot." said Grey with a very smug expression on his face.

"Wow Grey, you can actually be smart sometimes." said Lucy as she got up and headed to the door.

"Hey!" Grey shouted back at her.

Her only response to him was a small giggle as she continued on to the exit of the guild

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes**

 **Man I can't help myself, I intended for this to be a lot shorter but hey whatcha gona do about it. And I know I didn't put Happy's letter in there and he is definitely apart of Team Natsu, I am sorry it would have been way to long of a chapter then. Oh and I hope that my note at the beginning help people understand how the passage of time was happening. So as always hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did making it.**

 **So until next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	10. Like a Father,Sister,Brother

Chapter 10: Like a Father, Sister, and Little Brother

 _Dear Gildarts_

 _What's up old man? I bet you didn't think that I would have been able to tie you in our last fight since the last time we actually fought you destroyed me without even trying. Well let me tell you one thing, the next time we meet I am definitely going to beat you, so if you don't want to be embarrassed when I completely destroy you in our next fight, I would start training, since you are really going to need it._

 _So hey it looks like I am somewhat turning into you now, and by that I mean I am now going out on my own adventures and have no idea when I am going to be back, just like you always do hahaha. But I guess that the main difference is that I am no longer a Fairy Tail mage and won't cause Master Makarov any more problems about destroying things. So I am pretty sure that you know that I have always looked up to you and wanted to be just like you, but it seems that now I won't be able too. But hey look at it this way, now I will be able to become my own person and not just a knock off version of you, and also this means that every time you come back to the guild you won't have to fight me._

 _So my last parting words to you old man is try and be around the guild more often, I know that everybody would love it. Especially Cana, even though she would never admit it, she always is happier whenever you are around which should be reason enough for you to try and stick around more often. Oh and I have a gift that you can share with her and I am confident that both of you will like. In the chest there are three bottles of booze, which I am told are supposed to be really good, but I can never tell since they all taste pretty much the same to me, well they are Scotch, Sake, and Vodka. So enjoy them with her and I guess I will see you when I see you, old man_

 _From Natsu Dragneel_

Gildarts wiped away a tear from his eye and had his usual grin on his face after reading his letter. He then thought, man Natsu you sure have grown up haven't you, well I might as well go see if he has a good taste in booze yet? As Gildarts then got up and made his way over to the Master to get the booze and talk with him about what just happened.

"Hey Master, I think you should have three bottles of booze for me?" said Gildarts as he leaned against the bar.

"Oh so those were left for you, I was kind of hoping that they were for me." replied the Master a little sad that he wasn't going to get the booze.

"Well are they any good? You know the kid never had a taste for any alcohol, unless it was on fire." asked Gildarts.

"Actually I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised with what he picked out." said the Master as he handed the three bottles and money to Gildarts.

Gildarts mouth hit the floor when he examined the booze that he was just handed, the cheapest one was the sake and it was worth 150 thousand jewels, the vodka was worth 300 thousand jewels, and finally the scotch was worth more than 500 thousand jewels. The reason the scotch was worth so much was because it was 200 years old, and was rumored to no longer be able to found anywhere else in the world.

"I know right, who would have thought that Natsu would have that scotch. I can honestly say that I never saw this day coming, who would have thought that the heart of the guild would leave so suddenly?" said Makarov while looking at Gildarts.

"Well you probably should have, I mean you are the Master, and now that I think about it this isn't that much of a surprise." replied Gildarts.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Makarov now a little angry after that previous comment.

"Well think about it Master, Natsu was always giving it one hundred and ten percent in everything that he did for this guild, and as he pointed out that nearly killed him over and over again. And what did all of that hard work get him, nothing really, he was still treated like the idiotic kid that we all use to know, when he first came to us. I mean think about it the guild would always laugh and make fun of him being an idiot, and there is also the fact that you and Erza would always beat him up to try and get him to do what you want. I am actually surprised that he lasted this long now that I think about it, I mean I know that he is a monster when he is in a fight, and because of that we forgot that he was still human." replied Gildarts, leaving Makarov now speechless.

"Well I am going to go see if Cana wants to have a drink with her old man." said Gildarts walking away from the bar and heading towards his daughter.

"Oh Cana, want to have a drink with your old man?" asked Gildarts.

"Not now, old man, don't really feel like drinking." said Cana.

This shocked Gildarts, his daughter always was in the mood for drinking, but apparently the departure of Natsu was hitting her harder than he first thought.

"Well I guess I will take these extremely rare and expensive bottles of booze that Natsu left us and go drink by myself." said Gildarts as he waved the three bottles in front of Cana, making sure that she saw exactly what he had in his hands.

"No way, that isn't what I think it is, is it?" Cana shouted while pointing at the bottle of scotch.

"Yes it is, but since you don't want to drink with your old man I guess I will be going." said Gildarts as he started to turn around to walk away.

"Hold it, I have just changed my mind and I didn't think that any of those still existed?" said Cana.

"Well it does and Natsu wanted me and you to have it?" replied Gildarts with a huge grin on his face.

"Leave it to Natsu, he's always full of surprises isn't he?" said Cana looking a little sad.

"Yes he is, so let's have a drink in his honor!" said Gildarts opening up the scotch and pouring two glasses.

"Too Natsu." they both said and then downed their drinks, and then filled them up again.

"To one of the best mages that Fairy Tail could have ever had." said Cana.

"To the best surrogate son a guy like me could ever ask for." said Gildarts.

Then they both downed their drinks again, after that they filled them up again and then started to tell each other their favorite memories of Natsu, as they ignored everything else that was happening in the guild. Just enjoying each other's company, and drinking the drinks that Natsu had left them.

 _Dear Levy_

 _Levy, Levy, Levy what can I say to you that you don't already know, I mean you are the smartest one in the whole guild. So I guess I will say a few things that I really want to make sure that you know, first of I wanted to let you know that I have always seen you as my little sister, and that is why I was always quick to get into fights whenever it was involving you. But like I said before, I bet you already figured that out didn't you. But you might not know why I started to see you this way and it is actually really simple, when I first joined no one except for Lisanna believe in my stories about Igneel or would even listen to them. But then you came along and were really excited to listen to all of my stories and even asked me a whole lot of questions about Igneel, that sometimes I had no idea what you were even asking. Now that I think about it you were probably just trying to learn as much as you could, like you do with everything, and honestly I don't even care if that is why you listened to me and asked question._

 _What I do know is that I really needed that at that time, oh and congratulations on your relationship with Gajeel. He is a great guy and I know that he will project you and take care of you like his life depends on it; I know this because it is a dragon slayer thing, and I also want to apologize for almost killing him during the whole Phantom Lord thing. I am glad that I didn't because I now I can see how happy he makes you, and once you two decided on tying the knot, I expect to hear from you so that I can make it, I already told Gajeel that he needs to invite me so between the two of you guys one of you should remember to tell me. I decided to give you a medallion so that you can contact me if you are in trouble or to tell me about the wedding._

 _So I have four things to give you, the first one is the medallion I talked about earlier, it is a special medallion that I had made with a little bit of my magic put into it, and if you or someone else is wearing it and focuses on the medallion when they really need my help, it will let me know that you are in trouble and give me the rough area of where you are at. And I will get there as fast as I can. The next three are all books and I can guarantee that you don't own and probably won't find anywhere else. The first one will probably be the one that you use the most because it is the one that can teach you how to be able to read the draconic language, oh and a heads up Wendy will most likely come to you and ask if she can use that book, so that she will be able to read some of the stuff that I left for her. The next two books are about the history of dragons, one of them is about the history of dragons before the Great War, the other one is about after the war and during it, and focuses on the dragons and their slayers._

 _So that's about it and man am I going to miss you, but hey I will be around sometime and I also promised Gajeel a beat down when I come back so I guess we will be able to talk and catch up after I do that hahaha._

 _From Natsu Dragneel_

After she read his letter she started to cry a little because she did know that Natsu cared about her, but she didn't know that he thought of her as his sister. And to just learn of this after he had already left made what should have been something that would make her really happy, now only made her sadder than she already was. She also thought to herself, looks like I am not as smart as you thought Natsu, because I didn't know that you thought of me in that way, and I am glad that you didn't kill him too. She thought as she glanced over at Gajeel who had already gotten his gift from Natsu and was now happily eating it.

She then decided to inspect the medallion that Natsu left her; it looked like it was made out of silver. The medallion was shaped like a dragon's head roaring, with a little lacrima that looked like it had fire in it, in its open mouth. She was very interested in how Natsu got it, did he have someone make it for him or was he able to do it himself, because if there was one thing that she knew about Natsu was that he always would surprise you and that he could do anything that he set his mind to. As she was inspecting it she noticed that on the back of it had her named engraved on it. So she was done inspecting the medallion and decided to put it on and go and get these books that Natsu had left in her care, which she was really excited to read.

So she made her way to the bar quietly trying to not get noticed by anyone, she just really wanted to get her new books and head to her table. But as she was just getting to the bar she noticed that Alzack was changing a medallion just like hers, from silver to pink, which made her wonder if her medallion could do that too. So just as she got to the bar she grabbed her medallion and put a little magic into it and thought of the color orange, then the next thing that she knew it changed to that color, which the Master took notice of.

"Hey Levy, I just noticed that medallion of yours changed colors and I also noticed that you are not the only one with it, so what is it and where did you get it?" asked Master.

"Oh it is just a gift from Natsu, and it will tell him if I get into trouble so that he can try and help." Levy said once again feeling sad that the hyperactive dragon slayer will no longer be at the guild.

"Oh that was very thoughtful of him, and here is your money Levy. Did he leave you anything else?" asked Master Makarov.

"Yep, those three books and I have a question Master?" said Levy.

"Here you go Levy." said Makarov as he passed her the books "And what was your question?"

"Well I noticed that on my letter and on all of the chests there is this seal, and I haven't ever seen it before and was wondering if you knew anything about it?" asked Levy.

"That was very observant of you Levy and it was also on the Letter addressed to the guild and if I didn't know any better I would also say that your medallion looks just like the dragon's head on the seal. And sorry I too don't have any previous knowledge of it either, I wonder why Natsu put it on almost everything?" replied the Master.

"I was wondering that too, maybe it is some sort of dragon slayer thing? I'm going to go see if Gajeel knows anything about it?" responded Levy as she took her books back to her table with Gajeel. Once she got there she noticed that Happy and Carla were now sitting on the table talking with Lily quietly.

"Hey Gajeel, I noticed that there was a seal that was on my letter and on all of the chests, do you have any idea why Natsu put them on them?" questioned Levy.

"I have never been able to know what goes through the Salamander's mind; all I do know is that he is way smarter than this guild ever gave him credit for. Also now that you mentioned that seal, it was actually on all of the letters and looks like that medallion that he gave you represents it as well, which means that there is definitely something important about it, the Salamander never did anything for no reason despite what some think." responded Gajeel.

"Shucks I was hoping that you would know, I thought that it might be a dragon slayer thing." said Levy sad that she was wrong about it being a dragon slayer thing.

"Hey don't put yourself down shrimp, it could still be a dragon slayer thing and I just don't know about it. So what books did Salamander give you shrimp?" asked Gajeel after trying to lighten up Levy's mood.

"Oh, these, well one of them will teach me how to read draconic and the other two are about the history of dragons and their slayers!" replied Levy excitedly as she started to read the one that was going to teach her how to read draconic.

"Wow who knew that he would have such priceless books and give them to an outsider, he must really care about you." said Gajeel slightly startled about what books Natsu gave Levy.

"He does, he told me that he sees me like his little sister, and what, do you mean by outsider?" responded Levy a little angry at being called an outsider.

"Does he now? Hahaha well that somewhat explains it, and by outsider I meant that you are not a dragon slayer shrimp." replied Gajeel back to Levy.

"Oh, well I am with you and he knows that so maybe that is why he was okay with giving them to me." said Levy.

"Well that probably made it just easier for him to give to you." responded Gajeel to Levy as Wendy made her way to the table.

"Hi Levy-san and Gajeel-san, I have a question to ask you?" said Wendy while now looking straight at Levy.

"Let me guess you want to read this book right?" said Levy.

"How did you know?" asked Wendy a little surprised that Levy knew what she wanted.

"Natsu, and of course we can read it together if you want." responded Levy.

"That would be great!" shouted Wendy while sitting down next to Levy and then they both started to read the book.

 _Dear Romeo_

 _Hey little bro, I know that you are probably pissed at me right now and I guess that you have every right to be. But I guess I better tell you all of the stuff that I wanted to tell you at some point, just in case I don't get to see you again or you choose to not see me again. If you don't want see me again, I completely understand how it feels to be abandoned, but hey at least you know that I am not leaving because of you. I wish that I didn't have to leave but it is time for me to apparently move on and see more of the world, I think that you will understand when you are older. Oh my gosh I finally got to say that to someone, man have I always wanted to say that to someone and now I have and it was to you Romeo, hahaha who would have thought._

 _So first off I wanted to let you know how much it meant to me that you looked up to me as much as you did. It felt awesome knowing that you would always be cheering me on, and believing that I was capable of doing anything. The first bit of advice that I want to give to you is don't be like me, now I don't mean that you should be nothing like me, what I mean is that you have the possibility to be so much better. You can easily become as strong and as passionate as me, but you should also be able to not be as reckless, stupid, and stubborn. And I know for a matter of fact that if you are able to control yourself better than me, meaning you will cause less damage which is something that everyone especially Master Makarov will be thankful for._

 _So I have two gifts for you and feel free to burn them both if you want to, it is a great way to alleviate stress and anger, trust me on that one. The first one is a special medallion that I had made with a little bit of my magic put into it, and if you are wearing it and focus on the medallion when you really need my help, which you probably won't, it will let me know that you are in trouble and give me the rough area of where you are at. And I will get there as fast as I can. The second one is the old set of cloths that I used to wear, oh and if you are wondering they are barely worn, I think I just got them before I decided to change my look some._

 _Oh and just a heads up, since it seems like you really like Wendy and there is nothing wrong with that, since you are getting to that age where you are starting to notice girls. But like I said this is just a warning that you are going to have to get Gajeel's approval it you want to pursue Wendy. Oh man I have been giving way too much advice on everyone else's love life, what's wrong with me, oh no am I becoming like Mira and just want everyone to couple up, please Mavis anything but that. Or is it that I just don't want anybody to mess up like I did, oh shit why am I writing this and to you of all people, well what is done is done I guess. So bye Romeo, you were a great little brother and I couldn't have asked for a better one, and would love to talk with you sometime in the future but I understand if you don't want too, so take care and watch the guild for me buddy._

 _From Natsu Dragneel_

After reading that Romeo was shocked, how could Natsu think that after this happened that he would never want to see him again? It was one of the stupidest things that he has ever heard come from Natsu and he has heard Natsu utter a lot of really dumb shit. Yes he was really mad right now, but it wasn't at Natsu it was at the guild and the Master for making Natsu feel like he needed to leave. Now he wasn't going to get to go on any more adventures together like they had planned, and that made him even madder at the guild. But he knew that Natsu wouldn't want him to be mad at the guild, it sounded like he was still concerned with the wellbeing of the guild and asked him to watch over the guild for him.

So Romeo decided that if he was going to be angry then he was going to use that anger to help his training, rather than doing nothing and blaming the guild. All he needed to do was get the money and clothing that Natsu left him from Master who was sitting on the bar, since the medallion was in the envelope with the letter. So he quickly slipped on the medallion, which he thought looked badass because it was the head of a dragon, and headed to the bar to get his other gift from Natsu.

"Hello Romeo, here you go and how are you doing my boy?" asked Master Makarov as he handed Romeo his money.

"Honestly I am pissed at you and the whole guild." replied Romeo looking directly into the Master's eyes. This stunned the Master for a bit until he remembered how much the boy looked up to Natsu, and he couldn't blame the boy for being angry at them, but he was still surprised that he said it straight to his face. He was just about too responded to Romeo but was cut off by the boy.

"But I am going to use that anger positively like Natsu would, I know that he would tell me not to blame you guys for this and say that it was all his fault. But guess what Master this time he would be dead wrong, and you and I both know that, so I am going to take his gift for me and then go cool of somewhere else." said the clearly angry Romeo.

Romeo then went over to the pile of cloths on the bar and started to strip, which really surprised all that were watching. He then set his old cloths on fire as he started to put on the cloths that Natsu had given him, once completely changed into his new cloths he took one look of himself and liked what he saw, and then started to head towards the exit of the guild.

"Wait Romeo." shouted the Master of Fairy Tail.

"Yes Master?" asked Romeo as he stopped and turned around to look at the Master.

"What are you planning on doing Romeo? I can't have you going out there and destroying the town because you are angry at me." said Master Makarov.

"You don't need to worry about that Master, like Natsu told me I have great potential as long as I don't destroy things like he did, and I plan on proving him right. So I am heading out to do some training to let off some steam and get stronger so I can protect the guild like he asked me to." replied Romeo and then headed to the exit knowing that the Master would be satisfied with his answer.

Master Makarov just sat there thinking to himself once again which he seemed to be doing a lot of today, and just wondered how just a few words written from Natsu could cause so many changes in his brats. He had to guess that it was that the letters were coupled with the fact that he left Fairy Tail and who knows if they will ever see their loud dragon slayer again. He also decided that he would have to stop thinking of him as their dragon slayer, because he was no longer a mage of Fairy Tail he was now taking his own path and who knows were that would lead Natsu.

"What am I thinking, Natsu you will always be a member of Fairy Tail." mumbled Makarov to himself as he went back to drinking his beer.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **As always hope you guys enjoyed reading this. So only one more chapter of Letters most likely unless something comes over me and I decided that one of the three remaining people decide to not read it right away but we will have to wait for the next chapter. So for some reason I felt like, if Natsu ever did leave Fairy Tail he would leave quietly just so that he wouldn't make matters worse, even if he did have some grudges against a few of the members. He wouldn't want to hurt those that did nothing wrong to him. So that is enough of me rambling, as always feel free to leave a review.**

 **Until the Next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	11. Happy and The Strauss

Chapter 11: Happy and the Strauss's

 _Dear Lisanna_

 _What can I say to my very first friend ever, well first off I am sorry that I am leaving this way but I am pretty sure that you understand why I have to leave. You were one of the few people at the guild who actually understood me and always believed me, which I guess, is why you and I became such close friends so quickly. Also I wanted to apologize that I was never able to return your feelings for me back then, but once again you always knew why I couldn't and just accepted it and actually encouraged me to tell her my true feelings. I was going to tell her, but then it happened and I thought that you were gone forever and it caused me to start second guessing myself and I decided that I should put everyone else's feeling before my own. This is why I never told her my true feelings, which I know is just an excuse but hey I have always been good at coming up with reasons of why I shouldn't express my true feelings._

 _So I have a huge favor to ask you, and I know that you would have most likely done this without me asking, but could you try and comfort Mira and Happy. They will probably be the ones that take this the hardest. I honestly don't have anything for you to tell them that I didn't already tell them in my letters to them, but I know that you will think of something. You did always have the talent of brightening anyone's day with a simple smile, which I hope you will use that gift of yours at the guild for the next few days, until they are back to their rowdy selves. Oh and just so you know I gave my house to Wendy and don't know if Happy will stay with her, if he doesn't could you please offer to him to stay with you, and I know that once again that I didn't need to ask you that because you consider Happy as your son. I am just really worried about him is all, and I would have taken him with me but I didn't want to take him away from the rest of his family, and I also have no idea what kind of trouble I will be getting into and don't want to put him in danger._

 _Now on to the gifts, so I have a few little gifts for you one is a special medallion that I had made with a little bit of my magic put into it, and if you or someone else is wearing it and focuses on the medallion when they really need my help, it will let me know that you are in trouble and give me the rough area of where you are at. And I will get there as fast as I can. The next gift is really lame actually but when I looked at a jewelry store I didn't know what you would like so I got you this weird mood ring, but hold on it is not a normal one, rather than changing colors it changes to different animal heads. It reminded me of your magic, haha but moving on, if you don't like it that is fine, that is why I also felt you some money, two million jewels to be exact. Oh and the final gift is something that you might not get if it works for Mira, it is a soul and I am confident that one of you two will be able to take it over with your magic. I told Mira in her letter that if it doesn't work for her, she should give it to you rather than selling it or throwing it away._

 _Oh and I know that it is not my place to be telling you this but I can't help myself. You need to move on from me, which I honestly can't really tell if you have or haven't, you were always better at reading me, but as I was saying you should be happy and try and find someone who will love you just as much as you love them. And who knows it might be closer than you think, and I am just throwing something random out there, but he might have blonde hair. A scar over his left eye is kind of grumpy most of the time and no pun intended but it might shock you to learn that I think that he really likes you. I mean he has been carrying around your last gift to him before we thought you died, for years even after it broke. But hey what do I know about those type of feelings, as the guild always says I am to dense for that stuff, but I know that you aren't, so you don't have to take my word for it. So make sure that you take care of yourself and I will see sometime in the future._

 _Love Natsu Dragneel_

As soon as she was done reading the letter, she thought I moved on from you Natsu while I was in Edolas you idiot, she then looked up and couldn't help but notice Laxus standing at the bar and looking at what he had in his hands. In one of his hands was the pair of old headphones that she had given him and in the other hand was a pair of brand new headphones that she could only assume was given to him by Natsu. This caused a smile to spread across her face while she was looking at him, which was then seen by Laxus himself and it then caused him to slightly blush and put his old pair in his pocket while then putting the new pair around his neck. Laxus then made his way up to the second floor, while he did this Lisanna couldn't help think to herself that Natsu might be right and let out a little giggle.

She then thought about how Natsu had asked her to help Happy and Mira get over this, and he was right that she would of course do that they were her family. She then looked into the envelope that Natsu had left for her and took out the medallion and ring, and quickly slipped them on and the ring stayed the shape of a dragons head. Lisanna looked around for the two people that she was now concerned about the most, and the first one that she saw Happy who was crying on a table with Carla trying her best to console him. She then saw Mira who looked like she still hasn't moved from her spot after hearing that Natsu had left and her right hand was tightly clenched around the unopened letter from Natsu. This instantly made Lisanna concerned about her, so she made her way over to her sister, with the intentions to help cheer her up, but as we know sometimes that just doesn't happen.

Right before Lisanna got to her, Mira took off in the direction of Team Natsu, which Lisanna knew was not going to lead to anything good. She was totally correct about that feeling, because Mira instantly started to rip into them saying things to them that if she wasn't so upset right now she would have never said to them or anyone else in the guild. After which she started to cry and then took off out of the guild. This caused Lisanna to instantly chase after her, just in case she needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk too.

Lisanna followed her all the way to their house, and once she got in there she knew that Mira most likely locked herself in her room. So Lisanna sat down next to Mira's door with her back against the wall, and just sat there a few moments and listened to Mira quietly crying in her room.

"Hey Mira, just so you know I am right here if you need anything." Lisanna quietly said to her sister.

She didn't get any response, and she honestly would have been really surprised if she did. So she just sat there quietly waiting for when her sister would need her.

 _Dear Happy_

 _I am so sorry and I know that, its means nothing to you coming from me right now. But know that I left you because it was for your own good, if you came with me you wouldn't be able to see the rest of your family for who knows how long. You wouldn't be able to see Carla for who knows how long, which you and I both know that you wouldn't be able to handle for more than a month. It would be like you not having fish for that long, also it is probably going to be extremely dangerous but I know that you wouldn't care, which is one of the reasons why I love you buddy._

 _I also wanted to tell you that you were the best son that a guy like me could have. You were also so much more, you were my best and most loyal friend, always there for me when I needed you the most. Always able to cheer me up when I was down and always coming up with and doing crazy pranks and shenanigans with me, and always willing to go fishing with me and talk about whatever was on my mind. I will always look back on all of the memories that we shared together fondly; they were the best times of my life._

 _So I gave our place to Wendy along as she was fine with you still living there with her, which is if you even want to still live there. If you don't I am confident that Lisanna would be more than happy to take you in. I have left you three different gifts the first one is a new backpack for you, it is supposed to be able to hold up to ten times as much as it looks like it should be able to hold, it is some form of magic maybe something similar to re-equipping. The next two gifts are already inside of the bag, first one is five million jewels which I bet you will probably spend it all on fish. The second and final gift is a special medallion that I had made with a little bit of my magic put into it, and if you or someone else is wearing it and focuses on the medallion when they really need my help, it will let me know that you are in trouble and give me the rough area of where you are at. And I will get there as fast as I can._

 _So the last thing I have to say is that, after three months if you still want to come with me you can. But I have another suggestion that you will have to run by the Master if you choose to go with it, now here is the plan that I came up with, rather than leaving the guild and staying away forever. You will only come and stay with me for little times whenever I am nearby, it will at most last a month. You will still be a Fairy Tail wizard as long as it is okay with Master, and once you are done staying with me you will then be able to return to Fairy Tail._

 _I will get into contact with you when the three months is almost up, to see what we will be doing. So until then, take care and be good buddy._

 _Love Natsu Dragneel_

After reading it all happy could do was cry for a few minutes, knowing that Natsu was gone and he wasn't going to see him for at least three months, and even Carla trying to comfort him didn't even help. He then wiped away his tears and decided that, that this was going to be the last time that he was going to be crying about Natsu leaving, so he summoned his wings and took off towards the bar. Once there he didn't slow down at all and quickly grabbed the bag that was left for him, because he didn't want to talk to anybody except for his fellow exceeds, and headed to the table with Gajeel, Levy, and Pantherlily, knowing that Carla would most likely follow him.

Once he was there he waited for Carla to come land next to him, he then told Lily and Carla what Natsu said in his letter.

"So will it be okay if I stay with you and Wendy?" asked Happy.

"Of course you can, it is your place too isn't it? So what are your thoughts about Natsu's plan?" asked Carla.

"I don't know yet, I was actually going to ask you two what you thought of it?" replied Happy.

"Well it is a really tough question. But I would probably leave with him and not come back." said Lily.

"I would probably do that to." replied Carla.

"Really, you both would?" responded Happy.

"But Happy, me and Lily haven't been a part of Fairy Tail as long as you have, we don't have as many connections as you do here, so of course we would choose our dragon slayers." said Carla, trying to let Happy know where they were coming from.

"She's right Happy, and also you don't need to make a decision right away and you also don't know if the Master would agree to the second plan. If that does happen it seems like your decision will be made for you." said Lily.

"Your right Lily." said Happy just as Wendy came to their table.

 _Dear Mira_

Wait that isn't right because Mira didn't read her letter right away, no she just stood there shocked that Natsu left the guild and all she wanted was this to be some sort of joke but that just made it all the more worse. Because she knew it wasn't a joke, he actually left the guild; no what made her mad was that he left her without even talking to her about his decision. She was mad that Natsu was leaving because of such stupid reasons but she was even madder at all of the people that caused him to have such stupid reasons, the main culprits were his team that were supposed to be his closest friends.

That just made her angrier, because she bet that they didn't even know that some of the things that they did to him, hurt him more than they could ever know. Yet somehow after spending so much time with him, it seemed like they didn't know him at all. The anger that she has been trying to hold in was just too much so she decided that she was going to let some of it out on those that were once part of the team called Team Natsu, and then marched right up to Erza.

"This is all of your our guys fault!" Mira shouted while gesturing at Erza, Grey, and Lucy.

Erza was about to respond but was cut off by Mira.

"No you will remain quiet while I am talking to you!" she once again shouted at Erza.

"You don't even realize how much you guys have hurt Natsu do you? Well I am going to tell you right now, all of the stuff that you should have already known about him since you guys have been teammates for three years now!" screamed Mira as she pushed her finger against Erza's nose.

"Did you know that the only time that I think that I have ever seen you say or do something nice to Natsu is after he has almost killed himself protecting you or the guild, and even then you have a very weird way of showing your concern for him. I mean yes Natsu is always reckless and I know that you are actually concerned about him and don't want him to risk his life like that again, but you show that to him by beating him up as soon as he wakes up from almost dying. How is that at all a good way of showing affection to him, also it is really stupid because it is not like he just almost died and you just give him more injuries. Which makes me also wonder why you always use beating him, when you are trying to teach him something, how the hell is that a good form of teaching and it also appears to not work with Natsu, I mean how many times have you beaten him up for the same thing over and over again." said Mira now a little out of breath, but she still wasn't done.

"And you Grey, I know that you two have always had your stupid rivalry, but you always had to push him just one step to far. I mean could you really not notice those days where he just wanted to be left alone, but I guess I already know the answer to that, because you would always still pick a fight with him anyways. I mean even me and Erza when we had our rivalry still gave each other space on days when the other one was just not feeling up to it, but no you didn't notice or didn't even care if Natsu need some time off from your stupid rivalry. And let's just say I am really disgusted with you after learning what Natsu went through when he was inside that mechanical dragon, did you not even think about what type of pain he might have to go through. Actually do you ever think ahead at all Grey? Now that I think about it I think that you might think less about the consequences of your actions, than Natsu has ever and the guild thinks that he is the reckless one." Mira spat out at Grey clearly pissed beyond belief with him.

"Now this is directed to the whole guild, did you guys forget that Natsu is a dragon slayer and that when you are at the guild he can pretty much hear everything even when you are whispering. He tries to not eavesdrop on everyone else's conversations but he can't help that his ears are that strong, which is one of the reasons that he seems to always be starting the guild brawls, it helps drown out everyone else's voices. Oh and if you are wondering, yes he was one of the reasons why I always seem to know about everything that is going on, but back to what I originally wanted to say about you guys not remembering about his hearing. Do you have any idea how it feels to always hear whenever your family or friends say something bad about you when they think that you can't hear them, always calling him a dense idiot, or saying that he is an annoying brat. I could go on, but you all know what you have said about him behind his back, and guess what? Did he ever do anything back to you guys, actually has any of you ever heard Natsu speak anything but the highest of praises about everyone in the guild?" shouted Mira so that the whole guild could easily hear.

"Now back to you guys that use to be on Team Natsu. Do any of you know what Natsu's biggest fear is? I didn't think so, I am no longer surprised, I can see that none of you ever really tried to figure out what makes Natsu, Natsu. Well his biggest fear is being abandoned again, which if you think about it makes complete sense; you could say that he has already been abandoned four times in his life. The first was when his parents left him for who knows what reasons, the second was when Igneel first left him, and he didn't know why that happened until they met again, only for Igneel to die In front of him which is the ultimate form of being abandoned to Natsu because once you die there is no way to ever reconnect with them again. Oh and the third one was when we all thought that Lisanna died, and thank Mavis that you didn't, she was one of the few friends that Natsu had at the guild at that time. If you think about it that is probably one of the reasons that Natsu is always putting his life on the line for us, now I know that it is definitely not his only reason, but he doesn't want to be abandoned ever again and who can blame him." said Mira as her glare intensified for what she was about to say next.

"So how do you think he felt every time you guys joked about kicking him off of the team, and thank god you guys were always joking. Or that is at least what I told him, but now I am not too sure if you guys were? So this might just be me, but I think that the real reason that Natsu left Fairy Tail was so that he wouldn't have to deal with being abandoned again, which if it happened again it would probably destroy him, so he left before it could happen. And honestly I don't really blame him for thinking that I might happen." said Mira while completely breaking down and crying in front of the whole guild.

Mira then took off out of the guild while still crying and forgetting that Natsu probably left her a gift of some sort. All that she was thinking right now was that she wanted to be alone. So she made her way to her house as fast as she could and once she got there she instantly went into her room and locked the door, and then threw herself onto her bed and continued to cry while holding a pillow and being in the fetal position. She was glade to get all of that off her chest, even though it might have been a little mean to put the blame completely on the guild and Natsu's old team specifically, but right now she really didn't care.

After a little bit she heard Lisanna inform her that if she needed anything that she would be just outside the door. Mira didn't say anything back to her, she really just wanted to be alone with her thoughts, actually what she really wanted was for Natsu to be there hugging her and telling her that everything was going to be okay. But she knew that wasn't going to happen so she settled for being alone, she then started to think to herself. Natsu do you know that you are now doing the one thing that you were afraid of everyone else doing to you, of course you did you big idiot, which is I guess why you left letters and gifts for a lot of the guild.

Oh no I didn't get Natsu's gift to me, if he even left me one thought Mira now causing herself to become even more depressed. Well I guess the only way to find out is to read his letter to me, Mira thought as she took the crumpled up letter out of her pocket and opened it to start reading.

 _Dear Mira_

 _I am really sorry about this and I promise that I will definitely come back to talk with you sometime soon, as long as you promise to not beat me to a bloody pulp like Erza used to do, when we were little children, actually she still tries to do that even now. Once again I am sorry that I didn't talk to you about this before I left, but if I had I know that you would have talked me out of it and I couldn't have that. I know that you don't want to hear this, but I think that this is something that was bound to happen sooner or later. It will help me mature and grow up, like everyone at the guild wants, and who knows after a while I might return and become a Fairy Tail Wizard again, if the guild still wants me then, that is."_

 _So I also wanted to let you know just how special to me you are. You are probably the most important person to me at the guild, and have been for quite some time, I was willing to do almost anything just to see that gorgeous smile of yours. You have also always been there for me, which is something that I will be forever grateful for, constantly reassuring me and telling me that I could do anything if I put my mind to it. You were also always willing to listen to me, and oh how I loved just talking to you about anything, from what was happening at the guild to what my last mission was like. I really appreciated it, and it made me feel really normal which is something that I don't feel that much of at all, because I really only feel that way when I am with you, Happy, or Lisanna. So to some it all up you are really special to me and I will make it up to you somehow, for what I just did, I don't know how yet but I know I will think of something, I always do hahaha._

 _Hopefully these gifts that I left you will be a start to making it up to you. So all of the gifts that I left you are all in one of the smaller chests and will only open to your touch. The first gift is a pair of diamond earrings and necklace that I thought would look beautiful on you, but that is just my opinion and I have never been really good with fashion especially when it deals with women. The next one is something that is extremely rare and don't even know if you will be able to use since it is not a demon soul, but I believe that you will be able to use it. It is the soul of a dragon from a very long time ago, and don't ask me how I got it, I will tell you that some other time. Now if you aren't able to use it, which I highly doubt will happen, I informed Lisanna that if it didn't work for you that you would let her try it, but just so you know she doesn't know that I gave you a dragon soul. All she knows is that I gave you something that you might not be able to use, so if that happens you will then give it to her to try._

 _So the last present that I have for you, is a special bracelet. I have been giving most of the people who received letters some way of contacting me, but yours is one of two that I am giving that will allow you to actually speak directly with me. In order to call me all you have to do is push down on the gem in the mouth of the dragon, and as long as I am free it will set up a telepathic link between us, oh and it will draw off of your magic to accomplish this. Now on my end I have a device that allows me to turn on or off these calls, if I have it set off it probably means that I am doing some sort of mission or something like that, if that is the case my device will show me that I missed a call from you and I will try and call you back and soon as possible. I am told that for you to answer a call from me it is the same as you calling me just touch the gem when the gem flashes, it should feel like my magic as well. The last and final thing that this bracelet can do is mainly for me since I will always be concerned about you while I am not around, is that if it gets destroyed or can no longer detect your magic it will pretty much send a distress signal alerting me of your last known location, and then I will be there as soon as possible. And if you are concerned about sleeping with it on it should be able to still detect your magic as long as you are in the same room, it can change its size so it can fit anyone. The final feature of the bracelet is that it will only come off if you want it to come off, unless someone breaks it of course, let's just hope that it never happens. Because if it did I don't even know what I would do to them, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty._

 _Oh and the other person who has something similar to this is Wendy, and I told her that if you two could keep this a secret that would definitely be appreciated. And like I told Wendy feel free to call me tonight, which I can guarantee that Wendy will do, but also feel free to call me whenever you feel like it. Well I guess that is all that I have to say for now, so I guess I will talk with you whenever you decided to call me._

 _Love Natsu Dragneel_

After Mira read that she couldn't help but let out a small giggle and thought, still same Natsu concerned about someone else and wanting to help them feel better if he could. She also had a small smile on her face as she thought to herself. I see that you still have a problem confronting your own feelings, but who am I to judge I still have the same problem as well, but I am going to change that the next time we meet Natsu. She now thought while having a determined look on her face. She then sat up on her bed and wiped away her old tears and cleared her throat.

"Hey Lisanna, did you happen to bring a chest back with you?" asked Mira.

"No, was I supposed too?" questioned back Lisanna.

"No, it was Natsu's gift to me and I was just hoping that you grabbed it after I made that scene at the guild." replied Mira a little sad.

"Well if you want, I could go back and get it for you?" asked Lisanna.

"It's no big deal Lisanna, we can always get it tomorrow when we go back there." said Mira as she now opened the door.

"You're right, well is there anything you want to talk about?" asked Lisanna still concerned about her older sister.

"Yeah if you wouldn't mind, could we maybe talk about some of your favorite stories and memories of Natsu?" said Mira as a small blush made an appearance on her cheeks while for some reason looking slightly nervous.

"Sure, Mira I would love too." responded Lisanna as she sat down on Mira's bed, and patted the spot next to her, signaling for Mira to sit next to her.

Which she did and then the two sisters started to talk and reminisce about their pink haired dragon slayer friend. They continued to do this for a while laughing at all the fun that they had with Natsu, that is until the doorbell rang and interrupted them.

"Well I wonder who that could be at this hour?" asked Lisanna.

"Well there is only one way to find out Lisanna, let's go see who it is." replied Mira as she headed for the door.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes**

 **Well I am not completely happy with how this chapter turned out, specifically Mira's part. I feel like I might have built it up with some of the other chapters and don't know if I delivered well enough. Well, what's done is done and it could have also been a whole lot worse. Well as always feel free to leave me a review and if you want you can tell me if I did deliver on this chapter.**

 **Until the Next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	12. The Hunt Begins

Chapter 12: The Hunt Begins

 **Strauss Residence:**

"Hello, how may I … What do you guys want?" Mira said as she first opened the door not knowing who came to visit them at this time of day.

"First, we would all like to apologize to you Mira." said Erza not looking Mira directly in the eyes.

"Yea Mira we're really sorry." responded Lucy still looking sad at the loss of Natsu.

"I am sorry as well." replied Grey, who was only in his pants, due to his stripping habit.

"Thanks but that isn't going to bring Natsu back to m…. I mean the guild, also I am not the one that you really need to apologize to." said Mira with a scowl firmly planted on her face.

"Yea we know that, that is why we are going to go and apologize to him as soon as we find him, and with any luck we will convince him to come back with us to the guild." replied Erza with a look of determination on her face.

"You aren't going to use your normal means of convincing him are you? Because that was one of the reasons we are where we are right now." asked Mira now glaring at Erza.

"No, Master informed me that trying to force him back would be exactly the wrong way of handling this situation. So the plans are just to talk with him and apologize and then hopefully convince him to come back with us." answered Erza.

"Well, glad to hear that Master was smart enough to tell you that. Also you do know that you are trying to hunt down a dragon slayer right, and if he doesn't want to see you guys then there is not a very good chance of you guys finding him?" asked Mira, wondering why they were trying to find him, knowing that Natsu didn't want to see them right now.

"We know that, but we still have to try." said Lucy

"Yea how else will Flame Brain know that we are sorry and want him back!" said Grey, now only in his boxers.

"Well he will know that you are after him, but he won't know that you are sorry and don't plan on forcing him to come back, but hey that will be your problem." replied Mira.

"That isn't the only reason we came here Mira." said Erza.

"What other reason could you possibly have for coming here, other than telling me your sorry and now going to look for him?" asked Mira, honestly not knowing why else they would be here.

"Master wanted us to give you this, we are confident that it is Natsu's gift to you." said Erza as she took out a small chest. Which Mira quickly took from her with a huge smile on her face.

"Thank you for this, I was going to wait until I returned to the guild tomorrow to get it." replied Mira with a huge smile plastered to her face, and looking like she just received the best thing possible.

"Wow, that really changed your mood Mira." said Grey.

"Why wouldn't it, I mean Natsu always gives good gifts, and this time he really out did himself." replied Mira.

"He always has, hasn't he." said Erza, thinking back to all of the gifts he had given her over the years, causing a smile to spread across her lips.

"Well if you are a girl that is." replied Grey.

"You know that isn't true Grey, he just doesn't give you guys as many gifts as he gives us." said Erza, still smiling.

"Yea Grey, it might be due to the fact that you guys were rivals and guys usually don't give guys gifts, now do they?" chimed in Lisanna, from behind Mira in the doorway.

"Well Mira, what did he give you to make you so happy, if you don't mind me asking?" asked Lucy.

"Well I can just open it up and show you right now." replied Mira, obviously happy to show off her new gifts.

"Well the first is this set of diamond earrings and necklace." she said as she took them out of the chest. At first glance you could see that they were a very expensive set and made by someone who was a master in crafting jewelry. Mira then quickly put them on and then turned to the group and asked.

"So how do they look?"

"They look exquisite on you Mira" replied Lucy.

"Absolutely stunning." replied Erza looking at the jewelry with a bit of envy.

"You look beautiful big sis." replied Lisanna.

"You look fine I guess." replied Grey not really caring at all about how she looked.

"And the next one is a special bracelet that he made for me." said Mira as she instantly slipped it onto her left wrist. It was a red dragon that wrapped around her wrist with a gem in the mouth of the dragon.

"And the final gift that he gave me is this soul that he thinks that I might be able to take over, but it will be a surprise for later." said Mira as she closed the chest choosing to not take out the soul right now.

"So that is what he said you might give me, that is if you can't use it." replied Lisanna who was really curious on what soul Natsu gave her sister, but knew it was pointless to ask her what it was right now.

"Well I showed you what he gave me, so what did he give you guys?" asked Mira.

"Nothing." replied Grey, but he could understand why.

"He paid the rent for my place for the next three years." replied Lucy with a faint smile.

"Some jewelry and money." replied Lisanna as she pointed to the two dragon accessories she was now wearing.

"He gave me this new sword, which is quite powerful and was apparently the only other gift that Natsu received from Igneel." said Erza as she now rested her hand on TALON which was strapped to her side. After her statement everyone else was left speechless with their mouths open.

"What?" asked Erza.

"Well, I didn't know that Natsu had gotten anything else from Igneel, and then to find out that he gave such a gift away is just surprising." replied Mira.

"You got that right." responded Lisanna.

"So what can it do?" asked Grey, finally recovering from his shock.

"Well he said that it won't break and never needs to be sharpened. It can also do fire attacks and also can absorb fire attacks as well, he has also been apparently been putting his excess magic into it for quite a while." responded Erza looking down at her new sword fondly.

"So you are saying that he pretty much gave you a fire dragon slayer, but in sword form?" asked Lucy with wide eyes.

"I guess you could put it that way." replied Erza.

"Well maybe you guys do have a chance of finding him." said Mira.

"Wait what, why are you saying that now?" asked Grey.

"Well, because of Erza having that sword mainly." replied Mira.

"How does that change anything?" asked Erza.

"It means that Natsu still trusts you somewhat, he would never give away anything that important to someone he doesn't trust. And from what you said about the sword it sounds as if he wants you to use it to protect the guild, which in some way will be like he is still protecting the guild." said Mira with a sad smile on her face.

"Wow, you really do understand Natsu, don't you." said Lucy, shocked at what Mira just said, and realized that it was probably what Natsu was actually thinking when he gave the sword to Erza.

"Well I have known him for a long time, and we have always just understood one another." Mira said with a smile still present.

"Well that is good to hear that he might be willing to see us again, well we need to get some sleep so we can head out early tomorrow morning, so see you later Mira and Lisanna." said Erza as she turned around and walked off.

"Bye" said both Grey and Lucy as they too took off to their respective homes.

"Well you handled yourself better than I thought you would Mira." said Lisanna.

"I can see why you would say that, but I hey I just needed to let off some steam at the guild. But I will be fine now." Mira said with a now fake smile, thinking she will just need some more time and to talk with Natsu.

 **While all of that was happening:**

"So I will see you tomorrow right, for a studying session?" asked Levy.

"Of course, I can't wait and thanks for letting me use the book." said Wendy as she got up from the booth.

"Well of course I would let you, and Natsu told me to let you." Levy said with a smile.

"Well thanks again, I am going to be going to my new home now! Happy and Carla are you guys coming or are you going to stay here a bit longer?" asked Wendy while looking at the Exceeds on the table she use to be at.

"We'll be there later Wendy." responded Carla.

"Wait Wendy, you are no longer living at Fairy Hills?" asked Levy surprised that Wendy had gotten a new place and was leaving Fairy Hills.

"Yea, Natsu gave me his old place, so all I need to do now is move my stuff in there during this next week and do a little cleaning and then I will have my own place. He also told me to do anything I want with it and he meant anything." said with a huge grin on her face, somewhat similar to Natsu's grin.

"Well that was nice of Salamander." said Gajeel with his own grin.

"Yea it was, so what are your plans with his old place?" asked Levy with a small smile.

"I don't know, I still been there in the last year so who knows what condition it is in, and I barely remember what the place was like last time I was there." replied Wendy.

"Well if you need any help just ask us, we are more than willing to help." said Levy

"Thanks, I will definitely take you up on that offer if I need help, well see you tomorrow Levy-san and Gajeel-san." said Wendy and then exited the guild as the sun was starting to set.

Well time to see what my new home is like, Wendy thought to herself as she headed to the other side of the town, it can't be that dirty she thought. I guess I will just have to wait and see, when she got there she stopped and had a huge smile on her face because there was a new sign in place of the old one. It said Wendy, Carla and Happy's Place and was still the shape of a cats head, well I guess that means that Natsu new that I was going to actually live her, she thought with her smile still present.

"Well might as well see how bad it is on the inside." Wendy said out loud to herself.

Once she opened the door she instantly noticed that it was actually really clean which she did not expect, because if she remembers correctly the last time she was here it was like a pigsty. So she went in and started to explore her new home, and to her surprise it just felt right being there. Maybe it was because of the tree growing in the middle of the house, but it still somehow felt like she was still outside and not cramped into a small box like her place at Fairy Hills, or it could also be due to the absurd amount of skylights that were in the living room. The living room had two sofas and a table that went around the base of the tree; it also contained a fairly huge fireplace and two bookshelves as well, which actually contained books. She then headed to the next room which so happened to be the kitchen. It was a medium sized kitchen which contained everything that you would normally have in the kitchen; there was once again something different about this room. It was that it too had a skylight right above the dinner table that could easily sit four people, and it also had four matching chairs.

Well that was enough checking out the kitchen so she headed to the next room, which happened to be not a room and a stair case that headed down underground. This caused Wendy to stop she didn't know why but she was kind of afraid to see what was at the end of the stair case. She knew that there was no chance of there being anything really bad down there; I mean this was Natsu's old place and it is not like she was going to find a dungeon or some sort of torture room. But she couldn't go down those steps, she decided to head to a different room and check out what she assumed was the basement later. The next room that she went into was the bathroom and right away she saw that this room too had a skylight, which made her wonder if all of the rooms in this house had skylights, if so she wasn't going to complain it had her feel like she was out in the woods which was a good thing. Otherwise the bathroom was just a bigger than a normal bathroom because it had both a shower and a bath that were separate from each other. Wendy then went into the next room which happened to be the bed room and once again like all of the other rooms this one had a skylight as well, but this one pretty much covered the whole ceiling. The room also had a double bed in the center that looked as if it was barely used, on one side of there were two matching dressers. But what stood out the most in the room were the two hanging hammocks from the ceiling, one was obviously used by Happy because of how small it was, which would mean that the big one was used by Natsu.

She then went to the final room that she hadn't yet explored, excluding the creepy basement. This room surprised Wendy, mainly because of how cluttered it was, there seemed to be a lot of pictures stacked against each other and piled on top of each other as well, up against one wall. She then noticed that there was a bulletin board just like the one at the guild on a different wall, when she got closer she could see that it had a whole the shape of a fist punched through it, with a note pointing to it saying happened the day when I saved Macao. She then noticed that the rest of the board was completely covered with job requests that have been completed, which she could only assume were all done by Natsu. She then noticed that on both sides of the board were shelves that contained a whole lot of odd trinkets and knickknacks with some of them having notes explaining what they were and when Natsu collected them. As she was about to stop looking at all of them and the job requests she noticed that there was a note that had her name on it.

 _Hey Wendy_

 _I guess this means that you are taking the house, congrats. So you have found my memory/search room. So feel free to do whatever you want with this room, but if you could store all of this in the basement in one of the corners that would be very much appreciated. I would have done it myself but I kind of ran out of time, well hope you like this house as much as I did._

 _From Natsu Dragneel_

So that's what this room was Wendy thought to herself. She then looked at the only other wall that she hadn't studied intently yet and when she did she was once again shocked, because it was a huge map of the continent. And as she looked closer she noticed that there was a whole lot of red x's all over it, with a few of them connected by a red string, which once she followed at one of the ends was a picture of a red dragon with Igneel written underneath it. Wendy than started to cry because the drawing had been crossed out, which she knew Natsu did after the death of his father, which signified the end of his great search all across the continent. Or she thought for a bit until she notices that there was other x's on the map, but they were blue. There was no were near as many as the red ones but still about twenty of them, and there was only one blue string and it went from a blue x mark, where she knew Igneel had died fighting, and lead to a picture drawn of a black dragon with blue markings and Acnologia written underneath it. This caused Wend to back up in shock and then trip and fall into a recliner that was in the center of the room, facing towards the map.

As she sat in the chair, Wendy could now only think to herself that this is where Natsu would sit and try and figure out where Igneel was until he knew exactly where he was and then came up with something new to find. And the new target of Natsu's hunt seemed to be another dragon that they all knew too well, and this really concerned Wendy she really didn't want Natsu looking for Acnologia, because that was pretty much suicide. She had to look somewhere else and try and get her mind off of the idea that now that Natsu was no longer part of the guild, that he would completely focus on trying to hunt down the dragon that killed Igneel right before his eyes and seek revenge. So she turned to the side that happened to have the picture frames and noticed that they were paintings of Natsu with various guild members doing all sorts of things. This instantly brought her a small; just looking at the happy Natsu getting into trouble at the guild, which then caused her to from knowing that things like this were not going to happen anymore.

Wendy then left the room feeling a little bit down now and headed to the bedroom and plopped down on the bed. While lying there she remembered something that made her smile once again, she then reached to her armband and pressed the head of the red dragon. At first nothing happened which instantly caused her to start panicking, thinking that she had already broken it, but then she heard a voice in her head.

"Hey Wendy, what's up?" asked Natsu, sounding like his normal cheery self.

"How do I talk back to you Natsu-nii?" asked Wendy.

"Easy, all you have to do is think what you want to say to me and then I will hear it." replied Natsu.

"Oh that is easy, but what if I think about something that I don't want you to know about, like how I think you are now trying to hunt down Acnologia?" asked Wendy.

"Well I definitely heard all of that right now Wendy." replied Natsu while laughing.

"Oh crap" said Wendy, now embarrassed that he heard her last thought.

"Well it takes a little bit of practice with telepathic conversations, so that the other person doesn't hear all of your thoughts. Easiest way is to come up with a trigger that you start your conversation with and one that you end with. If you get good enough you won't even need one, it just takes some practice and some time." explained Natsu.

"Oh, I hope it doesn't take that long to learn, some things I think I would rather keep to myself" replied Wendy.

"Don't worry about it, it took me longer than I would want to admit which caused Warren to learn somethings that I would have rather had him not knowing about." said Natsu once again laughing.

"Like what?" asked Wendy.

"Not going to fall for that Wendy, but if you want we can practice right now." replied Natsu.

"That would be great, but I have a few more questions, like about you trying to find Acnologia, and why were all of those pictures taken down?" asked Wendy.

"Well I am going to answer the easier one first, which is the reason I took the pictures down. It was because you were going to be moving in and I wanted you to make it your own place. But if you like any of them feel free to put up as many as you want." said Natsu.

"Oh that makes sense, and thank you Natsu-nii I will check them out before I put them in the basement. Oh and what is in your basement I was a little too afraid to look at it right now?" said Wendy.

"Oh were you, hahahaha well I won't tell you, you are going to have to find out for yourself." replied Natsu.

"What why?" asked Wendy.

"Because you said that you were afraid to look down there Wendy and you need to start to conquer some of your fears." responded Natsu.

"Okay, now back to Acnologia." said Wendy not going to let this one slide.

"Well that one is a difficult question. I will tell you as long as you promise to not tell a single other soul, which I know will be hard for you to do Wendy. You just care way too much and will really want to talk with someone else, but you also will not want to break your promise with me, which will start to tear you up on the inside. So do you still want me to answer that question Wendy?" asked Natsu in a very serious voice.

"I do and don't now." replied Wendy.

"Well unfortunately you can't have it both ways Wendy, the world doesn't always allow that, so that is your answer?" said Natsu, still being serious.

"Can I ask later?" asked Wendy.

"Yes, but the same condition will apply then as well." replied Natsu.

"Well I think that I don't want that answered right now then." replied Wendy.

"Okay, oh and can you do something for me, I don't know what your plans are for that room but could you at least take down that picture and string dealing with Acnologia?" asked Natsu.

"Sure thing Natsu-nii, I will do it right now while we are still talking." said Wendy.

"Thanks, so do you want to start training so I don't hear all of your thoughts?" asked Natsu.

"That would be great!" replied Wendy and for the next two hours that is what they did, until Wendy started to get really tired.

"Well I think we might have to call it a night Wendy, you need to get your beauty sleep." said Natsu.

"Okay, but got one more thing to say." replied Wendy while yawning.

"Oh and what would that be?" asked Natsu.

"I just wanted to thank you for that special scroll with your moves and also ask do you know when you will be back again?" said Wendy.

"Your welcome, I just wish that I could teach you in person and also I have no idea as of right now. But when I do come I can't wait to see how much you have learned." said Natsu.

"Oh, well when you do I will make you proud of me Natsu-nii." said Wendy with some determination in her quiet voice.

"Well you already have Wendy and always will, well goodnight." replied Natsu.

"Goodnight Natsu-nii" said Wendy and the connection ended and she then drifted to sleep.

 **Back with Mira and Lisanna, which so happened to start just as Natsu finished talking with Wendy.**

"Well I think I am going to go to bed now, thanks for talking with me about Natsu, Lisanna" said Mira as she walked to her bed room.

"Anytime Sis and goodnight." responded Lisanna.

"Goodnight Lisanna." replied Mira as she went into her room. Where she took off the necklace and earrings and then changed into her nightgown and got into her bed. She then pushed the gem on her bracelet and hoped that it worked like Natsu said it would, which it did causing her to instantly smile to herself.

"Hey Mira, you got lucky that I just finished talking with Wendy." said Natsu.

"Oh and how is she doing with you leaving?" asked Mira slightly pissed off that Natsu was treating this like a normal conversation, and it was anything but normal for her.

"Surprisingly well, she isn't blaming herself like I thought she would. She also seems really determined to use some of the gifts that I left her to get stronger." said Natsu clearly happy that Wendy wasn't sad.

"Well good for her!" shouted Mira at Natsu.

"Oh shit, sorry Mira, how are you doing and like I said in my letter I am so sorry that I didn't talk with you first." said Natsu with a somewhat timid voice.

"Damn right you better be sorry, and you are so going to make up for it! Just you wait, it won't be pretty mister." replied Mira.

"I know, I know, I promise to make this up to you somehow. When I come back I will do anything that you want as long as it is not joining Fairy Tail, so how does that sound?" asked Natsu.

"Well that is a good start at least." said Mira in a calmer voice than before.

"Well is there something else that you wanted to talk about, or did you call just to yell at me?" asked Natsu honestly curious.

"That was just one of my reasons, another one is to make sure that you are okay." said Mira now feeling embarrassed that she told him that she wanted to make sure that he was okay.

"Well as you can hear I am fine and just so you know I have not even been gone for more than two days now. I have been gone longer for most of my quest while I was still at the guild." replied Natsu chuckling slightly.

"You don't have to be a jerk, I was just concerned." said Mira after hearing him chucking.

"Sorry, I am just glad that someone is still concerned about me." said Natsu sounding a little down.

"Hey, I am not the only one Natsu, I bet that half the guild is concerned about you right now." said Mira.

"Yea but I bet most of them are only concerned since I left, and don't try and tell me otherwise Mira, you were one of the few that was concerned while I was still at Fairy Tail." replied Natsu.

"I wasn't going to say that you were wrong, actually you are completely right and now they will all realize what they have lost, just as that saying goes you don't really appreciate what you have until it is gone." said Mira now sounding slightly sad as well.

"Well whatever, so did you try out that soul yet?" asked Natsu clearly excited at the possibility of Mira using it.

"No, I actually only got your gifts a few minutes ago." said Mira.

"What? Why did it take that long, did someone try and take them if so they are so going to wish that they didn't , tell me Mira who tried to steal your gifts?" ranted Natsu.

"Calm down Natsu, it was nothing like that, I just stormed out of the guild and forgot to grab them." replied Mira.

"Wait why did you storm out of the guild?" asked Natsu.

"Well you see….. I kind of blew up on the whole guild after I learned that you left and after I was done I didn't want to talk with anyone so I took off." said Mira slightly embarrassed at how she acted earlier.

"Oh man I would have loved to see that. So what were the main points of your speech to the guild Mira?" inquired Natsu.

"Well you know how they treated you poorly sometimes and how you pretty much hear everything that is said in the guild and how much it must have hurt to hear some of the things they have said about you. I also ripped into Erza about beating you up for no good reason, I also got really mad at Grey after hearing what you went through when you were in that robot dragon, it just made me so angry." said Mira.

"So I take it Wendy told you guys what we went through in Edolas?" asked Natsu, which was actually more like a statement.

"Yea she did, and what really got everyone's attention was that she said that she would have killed Grey if he had done that to her." said Mira hoping that Natsu would explain more on it.

"Well that sounds about right, and I wouldn't blame her, I even thought about it but I then remembered that we were family and he probably didn't know that it would be that bad." responded Natsu.

"I am glad that you didn't kill him, but why didn't you do anything to get him back? I know that if what Wendy described was at all accurate than I would have gotten some payback." asked Mira.

"Yea but then what, it wouldn't have actually helped me at all. It doesn't benefit anyone if I had gotten some payback. Also I would have probably been punished by Master for doing that." responded Natsu.

"Yea but you could have told us what you went through Natsu." said Mira.

"Like I said before, how would that have helped me?" asked Natsu.

"I don't know, but we could have tried something." replied Mira clearly still upset about the whole thing.

"I know Mira, I am sorry that I didn't tell you, it's just that I didn't want anyone worrying or feeling sorry for me." said Natsu.

"Why do you always try to do everything by yourself?" asked Mira.

"You know why Mira, it's because of my biggest fear. So did you say anything else to them that I should know about?" said Natsu.

"Well actually….." replied Mira.

"Mira what did you tell them?" asked Natsu.

"I didn't mean to tell them Natsu, I was just so angry that I accidentally told them your biggest fear. I just wanted them to know why you left and what they did was wrong and for them to understand you better, just please don't hate me Natsu, it was an accident I swear." said Mira now almost in tears.

"Mira, Mira, I could never hate you and it is not that big of a problem. Actually I am kind of surprised that they didn't know it already. I mean you figured it out by yourself and then talked with me about It." responded Natsu.

"Thanks Natsu and that was one of the reasons that it came out, because they didn't know, it seemed like only me and Lisanna knew that about you. Which was why I got so mad at your old team, how could they not know that and try to help you, no they didn't even try, even after you were always there for them. No they go and say things like how they might kick you out of the team, it just makes me so mad just thinking about it right now." said Mira now seething with anger.

"Hey it's okay Mira, that is all in the past so let's change the subject, what made you go back and get my gifts for you?" said Natsu

"Well that is not really changing the subject because I didn't go get them, your old team came by my place to apologize and tell me that they are going to go look for you to apologize as well and they also gave me your gifts." replied Mira.

"Well isn't that interesting, I wonder how close they can actually get to me especially now that you gave me the heads up, even though I expected Erza to try and force me to come back anyways." stated Natsu.

"Well she might now have a huge chance since you gave her that sword of yours, even though she says she just wants to talk." said Mira.

"Ha that sword wouldn't help her at all Mira." replied Natsu.

"What why wouldn't it, it pretty much is you in sword form." responded Mira.

"Yes it is, but it still knows who its true master is, therefore it wouldn't help her it would actually help me." said Natsu.

"Well I can honestly say I didn't see that coming. So what are your plans now Natsu and when are you going to visit." asked Mira.

"Well for the plans I have one thing in mind, but that will take a while and is a secret. As for when I am coming back I can say that I will be in the area no later than three months from now because that is when I promised Happy to meet up with him to see if he still wants to come with me, or if the Master will allow him to go on little trips with me every once in a while." said Natsu.

"Wait why didn't I get that deal?" asked Mira.

"Well I didn't think that you would really want to go with me, and I also knew that you wouldn't want to leave Lisanna." said Natsu being completely honest.

"Well you are wrong and also right, but the going with you for small trips sounds like a really good idea." said Mira.

"Well I would love that, but what if the Master doesn't want you or Happy going on adventures with a mage not from Fairy Tale." asked Natsu.

"Well I would then have to leave Fairy Tail as well, because it would then be a place that I could no longer stay at if they didn't allow me to be with you. And I am one hundred percent sure that Happy would say the same thing." replied Mira.

"Well that is one of the reasons I didn't tell you two right away, because you both are willing to give up Fairy Tail for me and I can't let you guys do that." said Natsu.

"There you go again always thinking about someone else rather than yourself. It's one of the reasons that I li… I mean everyone likes you Natsu. I mean look at how you left Fairy Tail, you put a lot of time, effort, and money into your gifts that you really didn't need to give anyone, if anything we should have been giving you things." said Mira.

"It's just who I am Mira, and I wouldn't have wanted gifts since it feels like I am in the wrong here." replied Natsu.

"You are definitely not in the wrong, they all are and I can't blame you for doing something about it, even though I would have preferred you doing something else other than leaving the guild." said Mira.

"Like what Mira, I tried everything I could to get people to see me in a different light, but no matter what I did they still saw me as the kid that would destroy everything and not think ahead. While still thinking I was annoying and an idiot, I just couldn't stand that anymore. My last hope was becoming an S-Class mage and getting the respect that I deserve, but you know how that went, even after I completely aced it I was still denied because they kept on seeing me for who I was and not who I am." said Natsu who became a little angrier at the end.

"Well I did say that I understood you, and can see that you did try to look for other options at least. So I am going to ask Master about what we talked about earlier and there is nothing you can do about it, just like how I could do nothing about you leaving. If you want you can think of it as one of the ways that you are going to pay me back." said Mira.

"I have never been able to stop you from doing what you wanted, why would now be any different? So I guess you will talk with the Master and you can then tell me what's happening then." said Natsu.

"Well I am not going to ask him right away I am only going to ask him when you are going to be coming back." replied Mira.

"Oh, well that won't be for a little while at least." said Natsu.

"I know you already told me that, well it is getting late so I should be getting to bed soon. Is it okay if I call you tomorrow night?" asked Mira, hoping that he said yes.

"Of course you can, you can call me whenever I just might not always pick up, well goodnight Mira." said Natsu.

"Goodnight Natsu" said Mira, who then went to sleep with a small smile thinking that things still might work out for her.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes**

 **Well I hope you guys enjoyed it. As always feel free to leave me a review.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	13. A New Look

Chapter 13: A New Look

It was the morning after he left the guild, which meant that today Fairy Tail will learn that it is now one member smaller. Natsu let out a big yawn as the sun just started to rise; he then did a few stretches while still lying on the branch that he used for his bed last night. "Well might as well get this day stated." thought Natsu, as he then went through his normal morning rituals, with a few changes since he wasn't at his old house.

As it got to ten Natsu had done everything that he normally would have, including cleaning himself in a nearby stream. "Well I better keep moving. But where am I actually going to go, and what should I do? Well I guess I could definitely use a new look I have been rocking this one for the last year and a half, which will make it easier for them to track me down, and I don't want that. So I guess I will head to the next town and do a complete overhaul of my looks, it is at least a start and I can figure out what I am going to do after that, and while I am in town I can get something to eat." thought Natsu with a smile on his face.

When Natsu got to the outskirts of the Town that he randomly headed towards he realized that it was one that he was actually quite familiar with. It was the port city of Hargeon, which held so many memories for the dragon slayer such as where he first met Lucy, oh how simple things were back then for him, all that he really wanted to do was find Igneel. Natsu then let out as small chuckle and thought, oh how he wished he could go back to then. "Well I guess this is as good as any other place to start the next chapter of my life. Now all I need to do is find a clothing store and pick out my new outfit that I will be wearing." said Natsu to himself.

As he strolled into the town Natsu had a little conversation with himself about his new attire that he was going to be getting. "Well what should I wear now? I could start wearing something that everyone at Fairy Tail would never suspect me to wear, that would be hilarious because if they do try and find me they will definitely describe someone with pink hair that is wearing an outfit like the one I am wearing right now. Oh man if I really wanted to make it hard for them to find me I could also dye my hair to a different color. Oh my Mavis that would just be so funny, I bet if I did that and as long as they don't have a dragon slayer with them I could walk right past them and they wouldn't even know it was me. I don't know though, I really like my hair, but I guess it would only be temporary and I could always just take it out right? I guess I really don't know since I have never thought about changing my hair color before, I guess I will have to talk to someone who knows about hair products. Now back to the new outfit, what would they never suspect me to wear and I still need to look cool wearing? I could start wearing armor no that would really slowly me down and get in the way when I fight. I could just wear a cape and pants like Gildarts, he always looks cool, but no that would be too obvious, I need something that is completely un-Natsu like. I guess I will just have to wait until I find a store and just look around."

Natsu now noticed that he was in the middle of the shopping distract of Hargeon, or it could also be called market, so he decided that he would just stroll around until something catches his eye. It took only about five minutes until he noticed that someone with some really funny looking hair came out of a store, and when he looked at the sign he realized that it was a hair stylist place with some weird name that he truly didn't care about. So he decided that he would go in and ask about dying his hair a new color. As he entered a little bell rang above the door, to alert the owner or manager that a new customer has arrived.

"Hello sir, how can I help you?" asked a tall blue haired man wearing a sleeveless shirt and tight blue jeans, which in Natsu's opinion were way too tight.

"Oh I just had some questions about dying my hair a different color." replied Natsu.

"Oh and what would those be? And my name is Devon, feel free to call me that if you want." replied the Man who now identified himself as Devon.

"Okay Devon, I was wondering if I did change my hair color to red for example, but then decide that I don't like it can I change back to what I have now?" asked Natsu.

"Of course you can sir, all thanks to my special dye which can be instantly removed with my personal cleaning agent that I made." replied Devon.

"Okay is there anything else that I should know about, like it causing hair loss or something like that?" asked Natsu.

"Oh god no, nothing like that could happen, my Dye and other products are completely safe and are guaranteed to last as long as you want them too. I have tested them in all sorts of situations and never once have they failed, and if they do then you get your money back, that's my personal guarantee to all of my customers." responded Devon, sounding very confident in his product.

"Well you sold me Devon; I think I will be getting my hair dyed red. So how much will that be?" said Natsu.

"Just ten thousand jewels for the best dye in the country." replied Devon, which was soon followed by Natsu handing over the jewels to him.

"Take a seat in that chair over there, and I will be with you as soon as I can." said Devon while pointing to an empty stylist chair.

A half hour later and Natsu's hair was now red.

"So what do you think?" asked Devon to Natsu.

"I don't know, let me test something out, if you could step back for a bit that would be great." said Natsu as he stood up from the chair and got a little bit closer to the mirror facing him. Devon also took a few steps away from Natsu wondering what he was going to do, and he along with everyone else in the room were soon surprised by what Natsu did.

Natsu covered himself in flames causing Devon and a few other customers to let out a gasp of surprise. Natsu was just wondering how the red hair would look inside of his flames. This new color looked great to Natsu, causing him to start grinning like a mad man, which he also thought looked great. He was about to tell Devon that he liked it until he noticed that the red all of a sudden started to fade away, which startled Natsu and also Devon who let out another gasp. After a minute it looked like the fading had stopped and now all that remained of the red dye was only at the tips of the hair for about a quarter inch.

"Oh my sir, I am so sorry it seems that when I tested the dye for heat it, I didn't test it in hot enough flames so as I said before here is your money back sir." said Devon looking a little disheartened that his dye didn't work at extremely high temperatures.

"What are you talking about Devon, look it still works and I think I even look more badass now." replied Natsu with a huge smile on his face and refused to take the money back.

"Well if you say so sir." said Devon.

"I do and come on look at it now, I look awesome." said Natsu, now grinning at Devon.

"Hey are you Natsu Dragneel, also known as the Salamander?" asked one of the customers.

"Yes I am why'd you ask?" replied Natsu now looking at the customer that just spoke.

"I was just talking to my friend, and said that you were him but he didn't believe me, that is until you used your magic moments ago. We just had to be sure it was you." replied the customer while pointing to the person next to him, who must have been the friend that he was talking about.

"Well I am glad I could settle your argument." said Natsu while smiling at them.

"If we could get a picture with you that would be awesome, we are some of your biggest fans, but we understand if you are too busy." said the friend of the first one that spoke.

"No problem at all, I can even give you an autograph if you want." replied Natsu, always happy and willing to do things like this for his fans which he's seemed to have gotten a lot of since the Grand Magic Games last year.

"Oh my god you are the Salamander, could I also take a picture with you, to hang in my store showing to other customers that you actually got your hair done here?" asked Devon with stars in his eyes after hearing that Natsu was the Salamander.

"Of course you can, people need to know how great you are at your job and if this can help your business at all, then I would gladly do it for you Devon." said Natsu.

Natsu then took pictures with all of the customers who wanted to take one with him and signed them as well. He personalized Devon's picture writing, "To my friend Devon, Thanks for the new rad hair style. From Natsu Dragneel AKA the Salamander!"

After that Natsu talked with everyone there about a whole lot of random things such as about some of his more exciting quests and of course the Grand Magic Games. It took him about an hour and a half to finish up the conversation with them, but he was glad to talk with his fans every now and then. But now he had his next destination set, because during his conversation with them he asked them where the best place to find cloths in town was, and they all agreed on this one store in town that according to them you could get anything you want within a day, it was called The Lone Tailor. So Natsu headed to The Lone Tailor and once he got there he was instantly surprised at how big it was, it was as big as the whole block and three stories tall.

Once he entered he was instantly greeted by a small man in a black suit.

"How may I help you sir? I will be your shopping assistant for your visit today." said the small man smiling up at Natsu.

"Oh well I am looking for a new outfit to wear, I think I have grown bored of this one." replied Natsu.

"Do you have anything in mind?" asked the assistant.

"Nope, I was planning on just looking around. But if you have any suggestions I am open to them, also I do not want it to be like what I am wearing right now. I want to have a different image than my old self." said Natsu.

"Well we can do both Sir, as we walk around I will see if I can come up with a new look for you and just tell me if you see anything that interests you." said the assistant.

"That would be awesome!" replied Natsu excitedly as they then went looking around the store.

"If you could tell me about yourself and what you plan on doing with this new outfit, it might help me come up with something." said the assistant. Natsu didn't see anything wrong with that so he told him how he was a mage and all of the things that he likes doing and what he might do with the new outfit. Needless to say this shocked the assistant, because the clothing would have to be completely fire proof and also very durable, which would mean that it would have to be a custom made outfit.

"Well if I heard you correctly which I know that I did, you most likely want to have a custom outfit made so that it can handle your crazy lifestyle, which means you can choose whatever style you want since we are going to have to make it from scratch." said the assistant as they came to a stop.

"Is that so." replied Natsu noticing that they happened to stop in front of the suit section for men in the store, which caused Natsu to now smile thinking that no one would ever suspect him to wear suits as a normal outfit.

"Yes Sir." replied the assistant.

"I think I have just found out what my new outfit will be." said Natsu as he pointed to the suits.

"Good choice Sir, now let's go get your measurements and talk about what you all want and in what color." said the assistant.

As they were taking his measurements they decided that he was going to get multiple colors of the outfit, they were going to be; gray, black, white, red, and all of those colors again with pin stripes, for a total of eight outfits. They consisted of shoes, socks, pants, boxers because why not if he was getting all new other cloths, two different button up long sleeved shirts of different colors depending what the main color was, vest, and blazer. They also decided that over the left breast would be an emblem of a dragon positioned so that it made a circle with its body and around that would be a circle encapsulating the emblem, this would be on all of the clothing's that covered his chest. They also decided that he would have just two belts with his new emblem on the belt buckle, and they also decided to get two dusters which is a coat that is similar to a trench coat and two fedoras, both of these had a grey and black pair. But on the back of the duster was the emblem that was on his other pieces of clothing, on the black one the emblem was in red and the coat also had red trimming as well, and on the grey one it was in black with balk trimming. All of the buttons on the outfit had a dragons head on them to make the outfit more unique and all of the clothing was going to be completely fire proof and made out of their strongest material so it would be less likely to rip and tare.

Right now Natsu was wearing an outfit that was exactly like the one that he was going to have made for him except for all of the custom details, so that he could see how he looked before he committed to it completely. He was right now wearing the full suit, which was in black with the blazer open and the top three buttons of the red shirt undone, so that he could tuck the ends of his scarf into it. He had the coat resting on his shoulders with his arms not in the sleeves of it, and on top of his head was a fedora. As Natsu looked at himself in the mirror he liked what he saw, it made him look very professional and still look badass, unlike those stupid Trimen guys from Blue Pegasus, but Natsu felt like it was still missing something. That was when he noticed sunglasses a little bit away from where he was now, so Natsu took off running to them causing his coat to fall off, which he made a note that he would like to not have happen it the future if possible. Once at the sunglasses stand he found a style that he liked which were not very big and the lenses were rectangle and had black frames, he grabbed two pairs of each different color of lenses that he liked, which were black, grey, and red. He then put on one of the red ones and went back to the mirror to look at himself as he also put coat on again. Natsu now thought that his new outfit was perfect in his opinion.

"That look absolutely suits you Sir, so how does it feel?" said the assistant coming up behind Natsu.

"Thanks, and if actually feels really good. I have decided that this is definitely what I am going to get so you can tell them to start making all of the outfits that we talked about." replied Natsu.

"Good to hear Sir, I will tell them right away. Oh and your suits will feel even better than that one because it will be tailored to your specific body. Which reminds me since you will already be spending a lot on this outfit would you be interested in getting them so that if you get bigger they will match our new size?" asked the assistant.

"That sounds like a good thing to have, I do plan on training more." responded Natsu.

"Alright I will add that to your clothing, but just to let you know they won't be able to go smaller than they are now. And when they get bigger they lose some of their durability. I just wanted to make sure that you understood that before you add that feature to your clothing." said the assistant.

"Okay, I still want that feature and can you guys do anything about me wearing the coat like this and not having it fall off?" asked Natsu.

"Yes we can, we just have to add a special chain that is right at the top button, and if you have the chain connected the shoulders of the coat will be stuck to your shoulders and not fall off, despite how much you try to get them too. I also assume that you will want were the chains hook at to look like a dragons head to go along with your dragon theme?" said the assistant.

"Yes that would be great, so how much will all of this cost me, including these sunglasses?" asked Natsu.

"I have one more suggestion if I may?" asked the assistant.

"Go ahead." replied Natsu.

"Well we could also make you special glasses that will have your emblem on the side of them and have it were you can change the color of the lenses to whatever color you want." said the assistant.

"Wow that would be awesome, I will take three of those please." replied Natsu.

"Okay, when adding those to your total and with the request for a rush job. Your total comes out to be five million jewels." said the assistant believing that Natsu wouldn't be able to pay that much.

"Okay, here you go. So when can I pick them up at tomorrow?" asked Natsu as he handed the jewels over to the assistant as if it was nothing.

"Well you can come by and pick them up at eight." said the assistant completely surprised that he was able to pay for it, but was really good at hiding his surprise.

"Well I will see you then." replied Natsu as he took his ticket to claim his clothes and headed out to look for someplace to eat since it was now three in the afternoon.

After eating Natsu wandered around the town trying to figure out what to do until tomorrow when he can get his new clothes. He decided to go to a bar and see what the local rumors where and see if there was anything interesting going on. He stayed there and listened to all of the gossip and heard that there was supposedly a dragon sighting in the mountain range near the Capital Crocus. Also a few other things that stuck out to him were the mention of a few bandit groups that were starting to make a name for themselves, there was also the mention of a few dark wizards and their guilds that Natsu listened to intently and made note of. But the last thing that caught his attention was the mention of some sort of monster or demon that was terrorizing the villages in the mountain ranges that were southwest of Lamia Scale. Once it seemed like nothing else interesting was going to be said he got up and paid his tab, and headed outside to go look for a hotel to stay at for the night.

He just found one and paid for the room, it was now eight at night and he thought that he might as well get some sleep. Just as he was about to lay down he got a call from Wendy, which he answered immediately by touching a blue gem on his own bracelet that he usually covers with a bigger leather one. It was made out of silver and looked like two dragons were twisting around each other but going in opposite directions, and in each of their mouths were gems, one blue and the other white. There was also a clear gem that was held between both of the dragon's tails on the other side of the bracelet. Once he was done talking with her and helping her train in how to use telepathic communication better, he got another call but it was from Mira this time, so he pushed the white gem and then talked with her.

After both of those conversations it was now midnight and Natsu was really tired so he decided to go to bed now. As he was drifting to sleep he smiled while thinking how Wendy and Mira would react to his new hair and cloths, with that final thought he went to sleep smiling.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Hey readers hope you enjoyed this chapter. I just wanted Natsu to have a new look since he is now going out and trying to figure out what he is if he isn't a fairy tail mage. I also wanted to make sure that you guys knew what he will now look like throughout the rest of the story most likely. So I also know that this is not the most exciting chapter but I feel like I needed it to set things up and like I said earlier describe his new look or looks. Well as always feel free to leave a review.**

 **Until Next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	14. Old Acquaintances

Chapter 14: Old Acquaintances

Natsu woke at his usual time like always and went outside of the town to do his morning training, which then had him finishing up at around ten in the morning. This meant that he could get his new clothes whenever he wanted, and he decided that it would probably be for the best if he got them after he cleaned up. So Natsu headed back to the hotel and had a quick shower and then checked out of the hotel, and then made his way to the Lone Tailor to pick up his clothes.

He entered and was immediately greeted by a different assistant than the previous day, this time it was a brunette haired girl. She had an overall attractive figure, but in Natsu's opinion couldn't hold a candle when compared to Mira in all her beautiful glory. "How may I be of assistance to you today, Sir?" asked the assistant.

"Oh, I am just picking up some clothes that you guys are making for me, here's the ticket." said Natsu as he took out the ticket from yesterday. The assistant looked it over, and then her eyes shot wide and she then looked at the ticket and then back to Natsu and did this action a few more times, still not being able to believe something about the ticket, Natsu assumed.

"Please follow me this way Sir, the owner would like to talk with you if that is okay?" said the assistant now having a faint blush dusting her cheeks.

"What does he want with me?" asked Natsu as he stopped, a little concerned that he might have done something wrong yesterday, but couldn't think of anything that would warrant him meeting the owner.

"I don't know Sir, the staff was just informed that if someone came to pick up this order, we were to take them to the owner if they were will." replied the assistant, who now for some reason wouldn't look into Natsu's eyes.

"Well I don't see any reason why not to, lead the way madam." replied Natsu, hoping that it was the correct way to speak to a lady formally, which Natsu has never been really good at. The assistant let out a small giggle that she quickly tried to stop with her hands but it was already heard by Natsu, which caused him to give her one of his patented grins that he could only do.

"Follow we this way then Sir." she said quickly as she turned around and took off, trying to hide the fact that her blush was getting bigger. She led Natsu to the back of the store where it looked like the breakroom would be and where any of their offices would be, she then led him to a very nice door that had the name Mr. Matsumoto on it. She then knocked on the door, and waited for a reply which didn't take long.

"You may enter." said whoever was on the other side of the door.

"Mr. Matsumoto, you said that we were to bring you the customer who made that special order yesterday." the assistant said as she opened the door and stood in the doorway.

"Well here he is Mr. Matsumoto." she said as she stepped aside to reveal Natsu.

"Oh my, it is you Mr. Dragneel!" said Matsumoto, clearly surprised to see Natsu standing before him.

"Yes, so might I ask what is all of this about?" asked Natsu, once again trying to be respectful and a proper gentleman.

"Oh nothing bad, I was just looking through the orders yesterday and saw yours which was quite unique. I wanted to know who would request such a set of splendid clothing with the requirement of being fire proof, and all I could think of was you Mr. Dragneel. So I talked with the assistant that helped you make the order yesterday, and asked him to describe you, which he did quite a good job at, he even mentioned your new hair style so I didn't know if it was actually you, so that is why I asked my employees to bring you here when you came to pick them up, so I could see for myself. I am a huge fan of yours, I mean who isn't these days, you have already saved Fiore a few times." said Mr. Matsumoto, happy to have Natsu in his office.

"Well, I am the one and only Natsu Dragneel, and I am always glad to meet a fan of mine, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Matsumoto." said Natsu with a small grin on his face, always glad to be praised by his fans.

"Oh no, the pleasure is all mine Mr. Dragneel, and I do have another reason for asking you here." said Mr. Matsumoto, with a huge grin now on his face.

"And what might that be?" inquired Natsu.

"Well since you are such a well know mage, I was thinking that I might make you your own clothing line, to sell at my store. Would you be interested in that at all Mr. Dragneel?" asked Mr. Matsumoto hopefully.

"I have been actually asked this before Mr. Matsumoto, and I turned them down. But I am willing to hear out your proposal before I make my decision." replied Natsu, shocking the assistant and Matsumoto that he has already had offers. But Mr. Matsumoto quickly recovered and decided to at least try, because if he did get Natsu's approval, he would be selling something that only his stores had which would definitely help business. Not to mention, that he would be selling probably the only other merchandise approved by the Salamander himself, other than what they sell at Fairy Tail, which in itself is worth a ton, so he decided that he needed to make this deal work.

"Okay Mr. Dragneel I was thinking…." said Mr. Matsumoto but was interrupted by Natsu.

"Sorry but could you just call me Natsu?" asked Natsu not really used to being called by his last name, it just felt weird to him.

"No problem Natsu." replied Mr. Matsumoto while smiling at him.

"Well as I was saying, I would like you to have your own line of clothes, but unlike your other offers the clothing that you would be promoting would be your new outfit that you made here yesterday. Which I can assume no one else thought of since they probably wanted to knock off your other outfits that you wore. But what I saw of this new outfit that you created, it will be a one of kind that everyone will want, not just because your name is on it, but because it looks really good especially if we use that emblem you have on them." said Mr. Matsumoto hoping that he at least peaked Natsu's interest.

"I am intrigued, what else were you thinking?" asked Natsu, thinking that since he was no longer a mage at Fairy Tail he might need another source of income other than the odd jobs he planned on taking every now and again. And this could turn out to be pretty much free money for him since all he would have to do was approve the clothing and probably pose for a few pictures so that they could advertise them.

"Well apart from stuff that you already picked out. We would probably add, cuff links, ties, a watch, a different style of dress coat, a new hat like yours with a strip going around it with your new emblem, which with your approval I would like to make the logo of your line and somewhat be your stamp of approval. I was thinking that the only other clothing that we would sell under Salamander Collection, which would also be the name of this line if it is okay with you of course, would be a set of work out clothing that would be very simple. They would be just like any other sweat suit or training gear that you see people working out in, except for it would have your logo on it and a strip on the sides in a different color, which we already made some so that you can see what they would look like." said Mr. Matsumoto

The assistant was now holding up two sets of the work out gear which consisted of hoodless zip up sweat shirt, a white t-shirt, sweat pants, socks, and a pair of running shoes. These all of course had the emblem on them, and the colors of the outfits were black with white side stripes and white with blue side stripes. They were just like Mr. Matsumoto said they would be plain and simple nothing fancy about them except for the emblem on them that matched the color of the side stripes.

"We would also sell work out towels, headbands, and wrist bands as well if you would be fine with that? We were also thinking that we would have two different lines of these clothes, one that is fireproof just like yours and one that isn't which would make them a lot cheaper for the customers. Now down to how much you would get from this, I would be willing to give you thirty five percent of the profit on all the Salamander merchandise that we sell here, but I can't go any higher than that. So what do you say?" asked Mr. Matsumoto.

"I have only two questions, when will you start selling them and when would I have to come in to get pictures taken in the clothes if I decide that I want to go ahead with this?" asked Natsu raising an eyebrow.

"Well the soonest that we could get everything set up and ready to be sold would be in four months, which would mean that if you could come back here in three months for the photos that would be great." replied Mr. Matsumoto.

"Well that is just way to convenient to say no to, I plan on being in the area in three month. So I guess that means I am down for it, so what do I need to sign?" asked Natsu.

"Here is all of the legal paper work you need to sign." said the assistant dropping a big stack of papers in front of him. This caused Natsu to let out a groan.

"While you are looking over that I will go get your cloths Mr. Salamander." said the assistant with a blush on her face that she was no longer trying to hide.

"Thanks" replied Natsu.

"Oh, we are going to be also giving you eight workout outfits two of each color just like your suits. Oh and you don't really need to read all of that paperwork, I wouldn't be dumb enough to try and rip off the Salamander." said Mr. Matsumoto while chuckling.

"Well you would actually be surprised what some people think they can get away with, so I am going to read them just to be safe, no offense Mr. Matsumoto." said Natsu.

"None taken, it is always smart to read over everything when doing a business transaction." replied Mr. Matsumoto while smiling at him.

Natsu then spent the next two hours reading and signing the paper work, when he was done he shook Mr. Matsumoto sealing the deal and was glad to get up and change into one of his new outfits, the grey with black pin stripes. He then said his goodbyes to Mr. Matsumoto and said that he would be back in three months. Before he left, Natsu put all of new clothing and old ones into his pocket dimension, yes he could use re-equip but not like Erza. He couldn't put them on or take them off with the magic, it took him quite a lot of time and effort to use but it sure beat lugging around a whole bunch of things with him, while also making it almost impossible for someone to steal from him. With all of his stuff stored he was now ready to head out on a new adventure.

Natsu decided that he would go and check out this rumor about a monster or demon near Lamia Scale, since it was the closest interesting thing he heard while in the bar last night. It was going to be a three day walk for him to get from here to the town that Lamia Scale was in, he actually didn't mind walking he actually enjoyed it and it also meant that he wouldn't have to go on one of those metal deathtraps. Once he gets there his plan was to try and find out more about what was going on, if anything was actually happening at all, he knew about rumors and how most of the time they were false.

The three day walk there was quite uneventful; the only thing that was even remotely noteworthy was that each night he talked to both Mira and Wendy. He could tell that they were always trying to get some information out of him, about what he was doing or where he was, but Natsu saw through all of their attempts and didn't let any useful information slip. So they mostly talked about what Mira or Wendy were up too, which Natsu really enjoyed because it made him almost feel like he was still there. He just got to the town that holds the guild Lamia Scale, which he had a few friends and acquaintances that were members of the guild, but he was confident that his new look would be enough for him to not get noticed by any members of Lamia Scale. So Natsu just strolled right on in and looked for an all you can eat restaurant since it was now a little past noon.

But Natsu was wrong about that assumption, because he didn't know that one of their members already knew about him leaving Fairy Tail. That member was none other than Chelia Blendy, who happened to be one of Wendy's best friends who wasn't a member of Fairy Tail, which is also the reason why Chelia knew of his departure from Fairy Tail. She hadn't told anyone at her guild yet, not knowing if Fairy Tail was going to make an announcement about it or if they wanted to keep it quiet for now. So she decided that she would tell them the truth once they started to hear rumors about the Salamander no longer being a member of Fairy tail. Well that was her until she ran into the ex-fairy tail member that she happened to only notice him by accident, as if fate wanted it to happen.

Chelia was just doing some simple shopping in the market; well I guess you could more accurately describe it as just looking at a few things here and there, never actually buying anything unless she felt that she absolutely must have it. Well today was one of those days were she didn't find anything that she wanted so she decided to head back to the guild and see if anything interesting was going on, but as she turned around she ran into someone.

"Sorry Sir, I didn't look where I was going." apologized Chelia.

"It's okay, no harm done." said the man not even looking at her, who seemed to be watching someone intently.

"Well goodbye Miss." he said, once again not even looking at her and following after the man that he was watching.

Chelia couldn't help but feel like she knew that man from somewhere. It was just something about his aura that made you feel safe and that nothing could go wrong when he was there, but she just couldn't place who else she knew that had this same aura. She also couldn't recall anyone that dressed like this man. Who was wearing a white pin striped suit and had a black coat draped over his shoulders while also wearing a black fedora and black sunglasses. But the thing that really stood out to her was the weird red dragon emblem that was on the back of his coat, she was confident that she knew all of the emblems for all of the legal guilds and most of the illegal guilds as well and she had never once seen this emblem before. So with that in mind she decided to follow this stranger and see what he was up too.

As she was following him she still couldn't shake the feeling that she knew him. As she followed him she noticed that the emblem was also on the side of his sunglasses and also on the left breast of both his suit's blazer and vest. She then finally took notice of his hair, which instantly got her to think of Natsu because he had pink hair like this stranger but his tips weren't red like this guys. But now that she thought of Natsu she realized that he had the same aura as this man. She knew that Natsu was no longer a member of Fairy Tail, but she couldn't believe that he would change this much in such a short time, so now she was really curious if this was indeed the well-known Salamander. If so what was the meaning of the emblem on the back of his coat, did he already join a new guild, she needed answers so she continued her tailing of this strange man.

She followed him for a few more minutes and was getting really bored because he just seemed to be to following some random citizen around town, and she wasn't finding any more clues if this was indeed Natsu Dragneel. That was until the next thing happened; the man that the stranger was following grabbed a girl covering her mouth and took her into the nearby ally. Chelia gasped and rushed into the ally to help save the girl, but what she saw next clearly told her who the stranger was.

As she rounded the corner she saw the girl all by herself completely unharmed but was completely transfixed on what was happening further down the ally. Just a little way down from the girl was the man that grabbed the girl and the man that Chelia had been following earlier, but the shocking part was that the stranger was holding the other man by his throat while his whole body was lit a flame, except for the hand that was holding the other man. She also noticed that there was a knife on the ground at their feet and it also looked like the man that was being held up, now had a broken left hand or wrist, she couldn't tell which.

"So I will ask you again, what were, you going to do to that girl!" asked the man on fire while now showing of his large canines with his growl.

"I was just going to rob her I swear and I will never try something like this ever again, please for the love of god don't kill me." cried out the man being held up.

"That better be the god dam truth, because if I find out that you do something like this again…" the stranger paused to make sure that his words would be heard by the man that he held.

"I will hunt you down no matter where you try to hide and end you, this I promise you as the one and only Salamander!" declared the stranger while punching him in the face, causing the man he was holding to piss himself in fear and recognition that he just pissed off the actual Salamander of Fairy Tail.

The Salamander then let the man go as he also put out the flames that were all over him. He turned and walked away from the man that he literally caused to piss himself and said a final goodbye to piss soaked man.

"Oh and just so you know once a dragon slayer gets a scent they never forget it, so why don't you do something with your life, so I won't have to do random checks on you." he said as he looked over his shoulder at the man and gave him a creepy smile. This caused the man to start shaking more and screamed "Will do Salamander Sir, you won't regret this."

"So how are you feeling young lady, I know that going through something like that can be really scary." Natsu said as he got closer to the girl that he just saved. He was then almost tackled by said girl, as she ran at him and started to hug him while crying.

"Hey it's okay, you're safe now, I won't let anything bad happen to you, I promise." said Natsu as he tried to calm the girl down that was now holding on to him for dear life.

"Okay lets go and find your parents, how does that sound and maybe we could get ice cream on the way." said Natsu now smiling at what he guessed was an eight year old girl in his arms.

"Really, we can get ice cream and then find mama and papa?" asked the girl now no longer crying and looking up at Natsu with hopeful eyes.

"Yep and if you want you can ride on my shoulders, but you will need to tell me your name." said Natsu still smiling at her.

"It's Emi." she said while raising her arms up, signaling that she did in fact want to ride on his shoulders.

"Well that is a beautiful name Emi." Natsu chuckled while putting Emi on his shoulders and then got up and started heading towards the street.

"What's your name mister?" asked Emi as she was playing with Natsu's hat which was right in front of her.

"It's Natsu, and if you want you can wear my hat." replied Natsu to Emi.

"Really, I can wear it?" asked Emi as if she hadn't almost had terrible things done to her moments ago. Luckily she was young enough that she probably didn't know what almost happened to her.

"Yep and Chelia you can come and get ice cream with us if you want." said Natsu to Chelia as he walked past her, while Emi took off his hat and put it on herself and then started giggling because it was a little too big for her. This shocked Chelia because she didn't even know if he saw her or would even remember her, since they have barely interacted with each other alone, so she stood there in her place not moving.

"Or I guess you could follow me like you were before, that was you right?" asked Natsu even though he knew it was.

"Yea it was me, I bumped into you and then thought that you were familiar so I decided to follow you and figure out who you were." replied Chelia as she caught up to Natsu and was walking next to him.

"I felt the same way, but was too concerned about what that creep might try and do. Which I am pretty confident he will never try and do again." said Natsu as he showed Chelia his famous grin.

"I bet you are right on that Natsu-san, I mean you caused him to pee himself and then told him you could find him anywhere on Earth land." said Chelia while giggling at the memory.

"I would if he ever does something like that again." said Natsu with a small growl.

"You could actually find him anywhere on Earth Land?" asked Chelia with slight disbelief.

"Darn right I could, I would definitely be motivated enough to find him again." replied Natsu.

"Natsu is that your girlfriend?" asked Emi while leaning over top of Natsu's head so that she could look at him. This question caused Chelia to instantly start blushing and not being able to find words, while the action of leaning over Natsu's head caused Natsu's hat to fall off her head. Natsu gracefully grabbed the hat before it reached the ground and tossed it back onto Emi's little head.

"Nope she is just a really good friend of mine, her name is Chelia, and if I hadn't been there to help you Chelia would have come and saved you." answered Natsu quickly with so much conviction in his voice that Chelia knew that he believed that she would have done it if he hadn't.

"Really, you would have helped me?" asked Emi looking down at Chelia, once again causing the hat to fall off her head. This was once again instantly caught by Natsu.

"Yep I would have done that for you Emi, what else are big sisters for?" said Chelia smiling and looking up at Natsu with Emi on his shoulders. She then couldn't help but think that Natsu would make a great father from what she saw of him in the past few minutes, and because of that thought she started to blush again.

"Yeah, now I have a big sister!" Emi shouted joyfully from atop of Natsu, causing both herself and Natsu to not notice Chelia blushing up a storm right next to them.

"Well you also need to try and keep my hat on your head better." chuckled Natsu as he tossed his hat onto Emi again, this time it coming down the front of her head a little farther, causing her to not be able to see anything.

"Hey don't do that, I can't see." giggled Emi as she pushed up the hat so she could now see once again.

"Don't do what?" asked Natsu as he reached up and pulled the hat down over her eyes again.

"You just did it again." giggled Emi as she once again pushed the hat up.

"What did I do?" asked Natsu all innocently, while once again pulling the hat down.

"That, right there." laughed Emi after she pushed the hat up again, as she pointed accusingly at Natsu's hand that was coming up once again to try and tip the hat down.

"But I am not doing this!" Natsu said while looking at his hand as if it had a mind of its own and he had no control over it.

"Yes you do." shouted Emi happily as she was swatting away Natsu's hand with her little ones.

They only stopped once they got to a vender who was selling ice cream.

"So what do you two want, my treat?" said Natsu looking at the two girls accompanying him.

"I want a strawberry cone." shouted Emi happily still on top of Natsu, and looked like she didn't plan on coming down anytime soon.

"Okay what about you Chelia?" asked Natsu smiling at her.

"I will just have a vanilla cone please." said Chelia once again blushing and turning away think thoughts, like this is what it would feel like to have a kid with Natsu, which then made her think of what they would have to do in order make that kid causing her to blush even more.

"We will have three ice cream cones please, one strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate please." Natsu said to the ice cream vendor. Who then gave them each their cone that they ordered, and Natsu then paid for them and started to continue their walk while eating their ice cream.

"Where are we going now?" asked Chelia, wondering where he was taking them.

"Well to Emi's parents of course." said Natsu having already finished his ice cream.

"Yeah mama and papa, I can't wait for you two to meet them!" shouted Emi as some of her ice cream had melted and was now dripping onto her hands.

"You know where they are Natsu-san?" asked Chelia not believing that he knew where they were.

"Well I am not one hundred percent sure, more like ninety percent sure. I can smell two scents that if combined smell like Emi here." explained Natsu as he pointed up to Emi.

"Wow that nose of yours can sure come in handy can't it." said Chelia.

"Well sometimes it really can suck especially if there is a really bad smell." replied Natsu as he wrinkled up in disgust his nose remembering some of those horrible smells.

"What do I smell like?" asked Emi.

"Well you smell like cinnamon and strawberries." replied Natsu looking up at her and smiling.

"Yea I love strawberries, what's big sis smell like?" Emi asked while pointing at Chelia.

"Well she smells like the calm before a really big thunderstorm." replied Natsu as if it was nothing. But this once again caused Chelia to start blushing because Natsu was talking about her scent so casually with Emi, when she for some reason felt that it was a very intimate detail. Causing her to zone out and not hear what Emi and Natsu were talking about, when she came back to her sense this is what she heard.

"I really like your hair Natsu." said Emi as she was pulling on his hair.

"Oh you do, it's not too girly for a guy?" asked Natsu while smiling up at her.

"Nope, I think its manly." stated Emi confidently. Oh no not another Elfman thought Natsu to himself.

"Why do you say that?" asked Natsu.

"Because it is your hair color, and you saved me from that bad man." replied Emi.

"Well that is a pretty good reason." said Natsu with a huge smile on his face, touched by her simple reason.

"I also like how the ends are red they remind me of strawberries." declared Emi. Scratch that she is a mixture of both Elfman and Erza thought Natsu which caused him to involuntarily shiver.

"Well Emi, are those your parents up there?" asked Natsu pointing to a couple that just came out of the office building for the rune knights.

"MAMA, PAPA" screamed Emi at the top of her little lungs to get her parents attention while also waving at them.

"EMI" shouted both of the couple while sprinting towards her, as Natsu also took Emi off of his shoulders and set her on the ground. As soon as her feet hit the ground she took off sprinting for her parents, while keeping one hand on Natsu's hat so that she wouldn't drop it, which caused Natsu to start chuckling.

"Emi we were both so worried, what happened we couldn't find you anywhere?" asked Emi's mother while she was still holding her daughter with no intentions of letting her go anytime soon.

"A bad man grabbed me, but Natsu saved me from him, and then we met big sis and then got ice cream. After that we came here to find you and papa." said Emi as she pointed to the people in her explanation of what happened. Causing her parents to look and see who saved their daughter and even brought her back to them. The husband when hearing Natsu's name and now seeing him right in front of him, realized who exactly he was.

"Oh my God, honey the Salamander saved our little girl." said Emi's father pointing at Natsu with disbelief.

"Oh my, thank you Salamander Sir for saving our little Emi." said Emi's mother crying tears of joy that they were lucky enough for the Salamander to save their daughter.

"My wife is right Salamander Sir, thank you and can I give you some jewels for saving our little Emi?" asked the man wanting to show how much he appreciated what the Salamander did for them.

But before Natsu could respond Emi spoke up.

"Mama, papa that isn't a salamander that's Natsu!" she said really confused why her parents kept calling him a lizard.

"HAHAHA, that is just my moniker Emi, which means it's my nickname, just like how you call your mama and papa even though they have another name that almost everyone else uses." explained Natsu as he realized that he just learned what moniker meant so there was no way Emi would know it yet.

"Oh I get it mister Salamander Sir." replied Emi happily.

"You can still just call me Natsu if you want Emi and as for a reward, just seeing your family back together is enough for me." replied Natsu smiling at the little family in front of him.

"Are you sure?" asked Emi's father.

"Positive, and you have a great daughter there but make sure you keep an eye on her, she is a little trouble maker like I was at her age." answered Natsu while chuckling and turning around to leave.

"Please don't go Natsu, I mean Salamander Sir!" said Emi almost in tears. Natsu turned back and came closer to her.

"Don't worry Emi, we can see each other again as long as it's okay with your parents that is, and like I said before you can call me Natsu like you were earlier." stated Natsu, which caused Emi to look up at her parents not even needing to ask the question.

"Of course he can Emi, without him who knows if we very would have ever found you." replied Emi's mother smiling down at her daughter and then directing on at Natsu as well.

"Well I got to now Emi, see you later." said Natsu as he once again turned around to leave, but was stopped again.

"Wait Salamander Sir, what about your hat?" said Emi's father as he took the hat off of his daughter's head, causing her to slightly frown which didn't go unnoticed by Natsu. Natsu then reached out and took the hat from the man.

"Nope this is definitely not my hat; it must be your daughter's because my hat is right here." Natsu said as he pulled another identical hat from his pocket dimension, but made it look like it was from the inside of his coat and then put it on his head. He then walked up to Emi while smiling and whispered into her ear while placing the hat on her head.

"Keep it safe for me Emi, until we meet again okay."

"Okay Natsu, I will keep it safe for you." she whispered not too quietly back to Natsu.

"Later Emi" Natsu said as he flicked the hat so that it covered her eyes and started to walk away again.

"Hey" giggled Emi while pushing it back up.

"Bye Natsu, bye big sis." shouted Emi as the two mages were leaving.

"Feel free to stop by the Lamia Scale guild if you ever want to visit your big sis Emi, as long as it is okay with your parents that is." said Chelia while smiling and waving back to the family.

"Can I mama, can I?" asked Emi excitedly.

"You can but only every once in a while, we don't want to be bothering her too much." replied Emi's mother.

"Woohoo" shouted Emi now doing a little jig.

"That was very nice of you Chelia." stated Natsu as Chelia caught up to him.

"Me, I did nothing, you did so much more, you saved her and played with her and got her to forget what just happened to her. You also gave her that hat of yours." said Chelia now looking at Natsu in the eyes through his sunglasses.

"Nah it was nothing, I just couldn't let any kid end up like I did." stated Natsu.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Chelia.

"I was abandoned by my birth parents for who knows why, and then was also left by Igneel and didn't know why until about a year and a half ago. So I know how hard it is to be a kid without their parents, so I never want another kid to have to go through that if I can help it." said Natsu not caring that he just reveal a very personal detail to Chelia, which caused Chelia to let out a gasp not knowing that about Natsu. She was going to try and comfort Natsu but then heard her name being shouted by some of her guild members.

When she turned to see who it was she saw that it was Lyon and her cousin Sherry. Both of them running to her with obvious urgency in their pace.

"Chelia where have you been all day, we were looking everywhere for you?" said Sherry.

"We had that guild meeting and you were the only one missing, we were all concerned about you." said Lyon.

"Its fine, I was just with a friend." replied Chelia now smiling knowing that they were in for a surprise.

"Who?" asked Sherry.

"Him" said Chelia while now pointing at Natsu.

"And who is he?" asked Lyon getting ready if he needed to fight this guy that he didn't know.

"You can't tell who it is, shows how good of friends you two are." said Chelia with her smile never leaving.

"Chelia I think I would remember him, if I ever knew him before." said Sherry while giving Natsu a sexy smirk.

"You both definitely know him; you guys have known him longer than I have." Chelia said while giggling.

"I am positive we haven't met him before, just tell us his name." said Lyon getting angry.

"Okay, okay, here we go… Its Natsu Dragneel!" said Chelia, which was followed by a long silence.

"WHAT!" shouted both Lyon and Sherry.

 **END of Chapter**

 **Author's Note:**

 **Well there you have it. As always I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I really liked where I took this chapter and I am now really excited to get to work on the next chapter. I am probably going to work on my other stories before I finish the next chapter of this. But as always feel free to leave a review.**

 **Until the Next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	15. Time with Lamia Scale

Chapter 15: Spending Time with Lamia Scale

"That can't be Natsu, I mean look at what he's wearing, he looks like he's from Blue Pegasus." stated Lyon.

"Also look at his hair, Natsu's hair is pink and this guy has red in his." replied Sherry.

"It's salmon god dammit, why does everyone always think that it's pink." shouted out Natsu, making both Lyon and Sherry look at him realizing that it was indeed Natsu. Only he would make a response like that about his hair, which is clearly pink and the reason why people keep telling him that.

"See I told you it was Natsu." said Chelia while giggling at Natsu's little outburst about his hair.

"You did, it's just hard to believe that Natsu would be wearing all of that." said Sherry looking at Natsu's new look and liking what she saw.

"Yea Natsu, what's going on here, did you change your look for some mission that you are on?" asked Lyon mainly surprised to see that he was wearing shoes, since he has only ever seen him in sandals.

"Nope I didn't change it for a mission, this is going to be my new look, thought I needed something different." replied Natsu, slightly glad that they really didn't think it was him just because of the clothing and new hair.

"I can understand that, but what is with the complete change?" asked Lyon, now noting that he had also never seen Natsu in such nice clothing before.

"I got my reasons, but I'm kind of hurt that you guys didn't recognize me, even after Chelia here told you." said Natsu as he faked being stabbed in the heart.

"Quit being so dramatic Flame Brain." said Lyon, causing Natsu to instantly smile that the nickname that Grey always used, thinking to himself that it must be an ice mage thing.

"Well I think that it looks good, real good." said Sherry who was still checking him out.

"I like the new look as well Natsu." stated Chelia making sure that he knew her opinion.

"Thanks you two, I wasn't too sure if I could pull it off. But after hearing that from you two now I know I am." replied Natsu with a smug grin.

"So what are your reasons for the new look?" asked Lyon clearly interested why he gave up the old look that he was known for.

"Well, I could tell you but where would be the fun in that?" replied Natsu smirking at Lyon.

"I completely understand why you bother Grey so much." said Lyon not noticing that Natsu lost his smirk for a moment at the mention of Grey's name.

"Come on Natsu please tell us, or at least me." said Sherry while giving him the puppy dog eyes.

"Nope, and that no longer works on me." replied Natsu thinking back to all of the times the women at Fairy Tail used that to get him to do something that he really didn't want to.

"Fine you big meanie." said Sherry now pouting that it didn't work.

"I have a question Natsu." stated Chelia.

"Oh and what would that be?" asked Natsu wondering why she didn't just ask it right away.

"Well what is with that dragon emblem that you have, it's part of the reason I had a hard time recognizing you right away?" asked Chelia, hoping that he would answer this and figure out if he has already joined another guild.

"Oh this, it's just something that I thought looked cool and decided to put on them, what do you think?" said Natsu as he pointed to the emblem on his belt buckle, since it was the easiest one to show off, other than the one on the back of his coat.

"I like it, goes well with you being a dragon slayer." replied Chelia happy that it wasn't a guild's emblem, but still not sure if he found a different guild to join yet.

"Is does look cool, but won't that confuse people if they see you with two different emblems?" asked Sherry.

"What do you mean two emblems?" Natsu asked back to her.

"She means that dragon emblem you have and your Fairy Tail emblem, you idiot." stated Lyon completely agreeing with everyone who said that Natsu was really dense outside of fights. After that comment Natsu completely lost his bright smile and attitude, which shocked Lyon and Sherry, but not Chelia.

"Oh, well that won't be a problem." said Natsu in a dull voice, which caused the others to be a little concern.

"Why not?" asked a now concerned Sherry, because Natsu is usually so full of life even at the bleakest of times, always being able to get everyone back up and motivated to continue on. This Natsu right now did not have any of that spark or energy which really scared her.

"Just trust me here, it won't be a problem." replied Natsu in the same voice. Chelia could only frown knowing also that it wasn't going to be a problem and only wished that she could tell the two so that they would stop bringing up Fairy Tail, because she could tell that Natsu was still working through his departure of his old guild.

"Okay I guess we will have to trust you on that one." said Lyon still wondering what is going on with the dragon slayer, there was just too many odd things going on with him right now.

"Well I think I am going to be heading on out, it was great catching up with you guys." replied Natsu as he was about to depart.

"Catching up we barely talked, we mainly were questioning you about your outfit." stated Sherry.

"She's right about that Natsu." said Lyon.

"Why don't you come back with us to our guild?" asked Chelia hoping that she could help cheer him back up to his usual self.

"I don't know, I really should be going." said Natsu a little reluctant to be with other mages, thinking that if he does than they will sooner or later learn about him leaving Fairy Tail.

"Come on Natsu, it will be fun and we can also show off your new look to the rest of our guild." said Sherry with a big smile on her face.

"Well I still don't know about this." said Natsu wanting to leave, but also wanting to hang out with some of his friends from Lamia Scale.

"You aren't on a mission are you?" asked Lyon.

"Nope" replied Natsu.

"Then there is no reason you can't stay a little longer and have some drinks and catch up with old friends, hell I'll even buy for you." said Lyon knowing that he now had Natsu, and will hopefully figure out what's going on with him. He owes him, because of Natsu Grey didn't throw his life away and he was able to find his way back onto the path of light, which for him was Lamia Scale, where he now has tons of friends and is able to help others.

"Alright, alright, I guess it would be a good idea to catch up with Jura, eyebrows, and dog." said Natsu now smiling like normal, deciding that hey why not have some fun while he can. He might even get to fight Jura which he has been itching to do ever since he first met him, way back when that whole Oracion Seis incident happened.

"Why did he only say Jura's name correctly?" Sherry whispered to Chelia.

"No idea maybe because he has already beaten Yuka and Toby, but you never really know with Natsu. Wendy told me that he sometimes will calls Lucy, Luigi, but hey at least he is now back to his old self." said Chelia as she was now watching Lyon and Natsu start arguing about who's hair color was better. What a weird thing for guys to be arguing about she thought to herself and just smiled.

"You got a point there; he has always been a mystery to me, always getting back up with a smile on his face. That was only thing that I really thought would be a constant with him, but just a little bit ago he wasn't and it just seemed wrong. Do have any idea what's going on with him, I mean you have been with him longer today than I have?" said Sherry.

"Nope, he was his normal self and I have no idea why he was like that." lied Chelia knowing that it wasn't her place to share that info about Natsu.

"Well at least he is back to normal, like I said you just can't keep that kid down. So what did the two of you two do?" asked Sherry now having a devious smirk.

"W-we didn't do anything that you are now thinking of Sherry!" Chelia shouted while having a small blush grow on her checks.

"Well that is a shame, I mean look at him, he's just gorgeous, ripped, loyal, and the list goes on and on. And look at that outfit that he has now, man does he pull that off, it wouldn't surprise me if he took the number one place on the top ten eligible wizards this year." said Sherry watching Chelia the whole time who was intently staring at Natsu.

"Yea he is pretty awesome." replied Chelia.

"So what did you guys do then?" asked Sherry wanting to hear what the two did together and see if her suspicions about Chelia were true.

"Well I actually bumped into him not realizing who it was at first, but he just seemed so familiar. So I started to follow him to see if I could figure it out, which was quite boring until this creep grabbed a girl off of the streets, I was going to help her but Natsu beat me to it. I don't know how he knew that guy was going to do something bad but he did, maybe it's a dragon slayer thing, but thank god he did otherwise that poor little girl, well I don't even want to talk about what could have been. So yea I went into the ally to help but Natsu already freed the girl, and had the other guy pinned to the wall and you should have seen him. Natsu looked like he was about to kill the man, he had flames all around him and was giving him this stare that even scared me, needless to say he scared that creep so much that he wet himself. He then informed the creep who he just pissed off, and told him that if he does another bad thing he will hunt him down and end him. He then punched him in the face and told him that dragons never forget a scent so he should do something good with his life. Natsu then went to the girl, whose name was Emi, and you should have seen how good he was with her, he calmed her down almost instantly and then he took me and Emi to go get ice cream. It was so sweat seeing him interact with her, he let her ride on his shoulders and wear his hat and answered all of her questions, it was like we were just a normal family going to go get ice cream. Then after the ice cream he took us directly to her parents because apparently he could smell them and they smelt like Emi, which then caused Emi to ask what we smelt like to him and he said that I smelt like the calm before a really big thunderstorm. We then got to Emi's parents were Natsu refused any reward and actually gave Emi his hat and promised to visit her sometime so that she wouldn't cry about him leaving, it's so amazing how he was able to help her and didn't want anything in return he was just glad that he could keep a family together." explained Chelia the whole time with a blush and smile on her face.

"So how was it, being a part of his little family?" asked Sherry with a huge grin.

"It was amazing, wait I didn't mean that, I wasn't..." said Chelia.

"HAHAHA, you totally like him don't you, I just knew it." said Sherry cutting off Chelia.

"No I don't!" shouted Chelia while blushing even more.

"You don't what Chelia?" asked Natsu turning around to her.

"Oh it's nothing Natsu, it just Sherry trying to annoy me." replied Chelia not being able to look at him and trying to hide her blush.

"Okay, but if you need anything just let me know." he said with his normal grin and then turned back around and continued on.

"I wonder if he would do you know what if you asked, he did say anything?" whispered Sherry into Chelia's ear, causing her to start thinking about what would happen if she asked. This then made her think about what would happen if he said yes, which instantly made her have a very deep blush now.

"Oh my god you are actually thinking about it now aren't you? And you claim that you don't like him." said Sherry now giggling at her cousin.

"Shut up Sherry, so what if I do?" replied an embarrassed Chelia for being caught thinking such things.

"Nothing, I am just glad that you admitted it, because it was painfully obvious to me after hearing your story of what you two did today. So the real question is what are, you, going to do about it?" said Sherry with a pleasant smile on her face.

"What do you mean what am I going to do about it, we are in different guilds so it wouldn't work out." said Chelia a little sad about that.

"That is so not true, other mages have done it, and besides if you ever wanted to see him you know where he's going to be at. All you have to do is take a short train ride to Magnolia, and then look for where something is being destroyed and then you know where he is." replied Sherry giggling about how much destruction Natsu causes. If only that was true thought Chelia sadly, but no as of right now who knew were the Salamander might end up.

"It still wouldn't work, why would he even choose me when there are all of those other girls at Fairy Tail that he could be with and not have to put in as much effort." said Chelia now only making herself feel worse.

"Well why hasn't he done that yet, and also we're talking about Natsu here, has he ever once gone with the easy route." said Sherry trying to make Chelia cheer up a bit.

"You do have two good points there." replied Chelia with a faint smile, now thinking that it might not be completely hopeless.

"Who knows he might have a thing for girls that have a similar hair color." said Sherry with a smirk.

"Really do you think so?" asked Chelia cheering up even more.

"I don't know, but I guess I will just have to find that out for myself." said Sherry with her smirk turning more sinister.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Chelia now slightly concerned.

"Isn't that obvious, I also have pink hair and might try and catch myself a dragon." replied Sherry.

"Oh, no you don't, he's mine Sherry." responded Chelia before she even knew what she was saying.

"HAHAHA that was just too easy Chelia." laughed Sherry.

"Shut up Sherry, and you better not tell anyone else about all of this." said a pissed of Chelia for being tricked so easily by her cousin.

"Of course not, because then it wouldn't be fun to tease you about it." replied the still laughing Sherry.

"Well do you guys have any plans on how you want to do this?" asked Natsu as they now had just arrived at the front doors of the Lamia Scale guild hall.

"I don't have any plans, I am not the prank pulling, kind of person." replied Lyon.

"We aren't either." replied Chelia.

"Who said anything about a prank, I just wanted to know what the plans were. Why did you think that I wanted to pull some sort of prank?" asked Natsu to his three friends.

"Well we have heard stories Natsu." replied Sherry with a smile.

"Yea Natsu, it's one of the things that Grey constantly complains to me about." replied Lyon with his stoic face that he usually has.

"Even Wendy has told me about some of the ones that you have done, sometimes even getting her to help." replied Chelia with a big smile, kind of hoping that she would get to help him with one right now.

"Dam, I didn't know that it was common knowledge." said Natsu thinking to himself, no wonder no one takes me that seriously, while slightly losing his smile.

"Hey I only did that at Fairy and usually to brighten the mood, I would never do something like that to a guild that I am visiting." replied Natsu trying to defend himself, even though they meant nothing by it.

"Well I guess we can just go in and introduce you to the guild then." said Lyon as he opened the door and then went in, and was followed in by Natsu.

"Darn I was hoping that we would get to do a prank with him." said Chelia a little bummed out.

"Me too, they always sounded like so much fun." replied Sherry as she and Chelia went in.

The group then made their way to the guilds stage, with a few members wondering who the stranger was. Some members wondering if he was going to be a new member or if he was somehow related to the Blendys, due to his hair color.

"Listen up everyone he have a visitor today." spoke Lyon so everyone can hear him.

"He's someone that you all know, even though he now looks different." said Sherry while smiling, and waiting to watch the reaction of all her guild mates.

"Well who is he?" shouted out a random member.

"It's Natsu Dragneel!" shouted out Chelia cheerfully and moving out of the way so everyone could get a clear view of him.

"Hello Lamia Scale it's a pleasure to come and visit you guys." replied Natsu as he took off his hat.

"Who the hell is that?" asked someone.

"I thought you said Natsu was here?" said another member.

"That can't be him, he's way to polite." said a different member starting to make Natsu a little angry.

"He's right everyone knows that the Salamander doesn't dress and act like a gentleman." said another random person in the crowd.

"Yea he would come in here and start destroying things." said someone else, causing Natsu to get even angrier now realizing that everyone must think that he is an idiot who just loves to destroy things.

"Yea and Natsu doesn't have red in his hair it is all pink." said an unfortunate guild member.

"So I can't change is that what I am hearing, and also everyone knows that my hair is salmon and not pink." shouted Natsu at the man that said his hair was pink, while completely covering himself in flames. Natsu now slowly walked towards the man, with a creepy smile.

"Oh my god it really is him." shouted someone.

"Yea and that idiot had to call his hair that color." said another member, saying a small prayer for his soon to be dead comrade.

Natsu was right in front of the man now, who was scared for his life right now that is until what happened next. All of Natsu's flames vanished and he was now standing in front of the man with a smile on his face.

"See I can change, the old me would have already beaten the living shit out of you for that, but the new me is just going to let those comments about my hair go right on over me. Because I know that my hair color is salmon even though everybody else seems to disagree with me." said Natsu as he reached out a hand to help the man up, because he was so scared that he fell down.

"We told you that it was Natsu." said Chelia while smiling and glad that Natsu didn't hurt a member of her guild.

"Yea but this change is just too much." responded a member.

"Yea Natsu what is with the change?" asked Yuka making his way to the front of the crowd.

"Well eyebrows, I have my reasons and we will just leave it at that." replied Natsu.

"The name is Yuka Suzuki not eyebrows, I have told you this before." said Yuka slightly angry at the nickname that Natsu gave him all those years ago.

"Sorry about that Yuka, it will never happen again." said Natsu while doing a small bow to show that he was truly sorry.

"Are we sure that this is the Salamander?" said someone once again not believing what he just saw.

"Yea, I mean he just apologized to Yuka." said another member.

"I told you guys, I have changed, just recently something happened which made me realize that some of the things I have been doing needed to stop. So now I am trying to do that." replied Natsu with a sad smile.

"But why, I liked the old Salamander?" called out Toby.

"Sorry …, I was just about to call you by the nickname that I use to call you. What is you name again?" asked Natsu.

"It's Toby Horhorta." replied Toby.

"As I was saying Toby, but sorry that Natsu is gone or hopefully he is, I caused way too much trouble and now that I know how much it got on peoples nerves I am trying to stop." replied Natsu.

"But it was so much fun!" said a now sad Toby.

"Hey it's okay Toby we can still have fun, now I am just not going to destroy things needlessly." said Natsu wanting to cheer up the dog man.

"Really, so we can still have fun?" asked Toby hopefully.

"Yea anything you want old pal." replied Natsu.

"Alright, then lets fight again, you got lucky last time!" shouted Toby.

"Okay but I assume that you Master would prefer it if we did that somewhere else right?" said Natsu not wanting to destroy anything inside of their guild.

"You could go to the training area out back." suggested Chelia.

"Thanks Chelia, would you mind showing me the way?" asked Natsu with his normal grin.

"Sure no problem Natsu-san." replied Chelia with a slight blush coming again for what felt like the one hundredth time today. She then led Natsu through the guild and out the back door, once there Natsu noticed that it was actually a really good training area. There were all sorts of different weights for lifting, dummies designed for practicing your hand to hand combat on, and off to one side seemed to be some sort of obstacle course that test's all sorts of skill, which he thought looked fun. There was also a whole bunch of dummies designed to be hit by spells, they even had one of the Magic Power Finders which he had to try before he left, but what stood out the most was an arena with bleachers surrounding it, where he assumed they were going to have their sparing match. He then had the thought, why the hell did Fairy Tail not have one of these, they would have saved so many jewels on repairs if they just had a simple arena like this. As he got into the arena with Toby he realized that almost all of Lamia Scale came out to watch their fight.

"Why are you guys all out here?" asked Natsu.

"Well it isn't every day that you get to watch the Salamander of Fairy Tail do a dual." said a member.

"He's right I still remember the fight between you and the Dual Dragons of Sabretooth. Man was that awesome." said a different member of Lamia Scale.

"I guess you guys don't do you?" said Natsu with a sad smile, now thinking that they never will again actually, and even now they aren't getting to see it because he was no longer a member of Fairy Tail.

"Man I can't wait for the Grand Magic Games, to think that they are only nine months away." said someone in the crowd.

"Yea and this time we are going to take your guy's place as number one." said another member.

"And there is nothing that you can do to stop us, Salamander." replied someone else, which caused Chelia to cringe not knowing how Natsu was going to handle that comment, because no else knew that he was no longer a member.

"HAHAHA you are probably right on that." said a laughing Natsu, which threw Chelia since she thought that he might get sad like he did before.

"Okay let's get serious here, you read to fight Toby?" said Natsu as he took off his coat and set it and his hat and glasses on one of the bleachers, no longer laughing and completely serious.

"You bet Salamander, Paralysis Claw: Mega Jellyfish!" he shouted as his claws elongated and were green now, and then got into his fighting stance.

"Toby you got something right here." said Natsu as he pointed to the right side of his forehead.

"Toby don't .." yelled Yuka, but unfortunately it was already too late and Toby already had touched himself. This meant that he just paralyzed himself giving the match to Natsu.

"HAHAHAHA, oh my god Toby I can't believe I got you with that again." said Natsu laughing his ass of in the middle of the arena.

"Toby you idiot." said Yuka as he made his way into the arena, to take Toby to one of the beds in their infirmary to wait until the paralysis wears off.

"Well it is good to see that you are still the Natsu that I remember, I was actually a little worried that you were trying to change yourself completely." said Jura now making his presence known to Natsu.

"Of course not Jura, I am only trying to get rid of the less desirable traits. You know like always getting into fights, destroying things, and always being childish." replied Natsu looking up at Jura.

"Well some would say that you being childish was part of your charm." said Jura, knowing of a few people who thought that way.

"I can see that, but I've been told that I need to mature, which means no more being childish all of the time. But hey that doesn't mean I can't have some moments every once in a while right?" said Natsu with a smirk.

"Right you are Natsu, right you are. So might I ask you what brought about this change and what is up with that emblem you have on all of your clothes?" asked Jura as he did a hand gesture meaning all of Natsu.

"I believe you just did Jura. Well for your first question I will only tell you if you beat me in a fight, and for the second one it is quite simple, I thought that it looked badass so I got them." replied Natsu with a huge smile.

"I agree it does look badass, and I am glad to see that you are still ever eager for tough opponents." replied Jura smiling right back at him.

"Come on Jura that is one thing about me that will last until the day I die. So about that fight?" he said eager to fight him.

"Okay, but first let's go back into the guild and catch up with each other, get some food while we're at it and then afterwards you and me will have that fight. And then you will have to tell me what caused this change." said Jura.

"Deal, but remember I only have to tell you, after you beat me." replied Natsu as he collected his things.

"Silly me, I must be getting forgetful in my old age." replied Jura sarcastically which caused both of them to start laughing together as they went back into the guild together.

"Good now we can figure out what is up with Natsu." Sherry said to Lyon and Chelia who were next to her.

"That's only if Jura beats him." replied Chelia, hoping that Natsu doesn't lose so he won't have to tell them, when he clearly doesn't want to.

"Oh come on Chelia, I know that Natsu is strong but he doesn't have a chance against Jura. He's one of the Ten Wizard Saints, which means it's Jura's win and then we can figure out what's wrong with him." said Lyon with a confident smirk.

"Well I heard form a reliable source that Natsu tied in his last fight with Gildarts." replied Chelia with her own confident smirk.

"What no way, wasn't he actually offered a position to be one of the Wizard Saints years ago but he turned it down because he said it would be too much of a hassle." said Sherry completely shocked that Natsu tied with that monster of a man.

"Even if that wasn't true, his strength and power are quite well known. You don't become the Ace of Fairy Tail without having a huge amount of power." replied Lyon also startled by this new information.

"Where did you get this information from Chelia?" asked Sherry wanting to know how reliable this info was.

"Wendy told me so it is the truth." declared Chelia.

"Shit, so we might not figure out what is up with him." said Lyon still curious with what is going on with the dragon slayer.

"Yep." replied Chelia, not looking too bummed about not getting to know thought Sherry. This made her think that maybe Chelia lied to her earlier about not knowing, especially since she is so close to Wendy.

"Well that only leaves us one other option." stated Sherry.

"And what would that be?" asked Chelia.

"Simple, we go in there and watch him, while we also ask him some other questions. With that we should be able to figure out what happened or at least the broad picture." said Sherry smiling.

"Good idea Sherry, let's go." said Lyon as he took off towards the guild.

"Yea" stated Chelia very unenthusiastically, wondering why they couldn't leave him alone, but then realized that she would have been just like them if she didn't know.

So they started their plan, asking Natsu all sorts of questions like how certain people were doing in Fairy Tail, which he answered normally, that is until someone asked about a certain individual but that wasn't until the conversation was almost done. They asked him about what he had been up to recently and he told them about some of his quest he had done and other things and he even started to ask them very similar questions back to them. So they decided to kick it up a notch in their questioning.

"So Natsu heard a rumor about you and was wondering if it was true?" asked Sherry.

"And what rumor would that be?" Natsu asked back.

"Oh that in your last fight with Gildarts, you tied him." replied Sherry shocking Jura and the rest of the guild.

"Oh that, yea it happened in our S-Class exams." said Natsu as if it wasn't a big deal.

"You actually tied him, in your exams?" asked Jura.

"Yes I did and I thought that I said that laud enough for everyone to hear." replied Natsu.

"You did, it's just that it was hard to believe Natsu, Gildarts has so much power." said Jura.

"Your telling me, it was one of my hardest fights and he wasn't holding back this time." responded Natsu as he chuckled to himself.

"Well congratulations on becoming S-Class Natsu, it's about time." said Lyon patting him on the back, making Chelia regret telling them that little detail, knowing where this was going and not liking it.

"Congratulations Na…" started Jura but was cut off by Natsu.

"Sorry but I have to stop you there, I didn't get promoted." replied Natsu with a sad look in his eyes.

"What, why not you tied Gildarts in a fight!" shouted out someone behind Natsu who was listening in on the conversation.

"Please, explain Natsu?" asked Jura with a very serious look on his face.

"It's very simple; Master Makarov said that I was missing some very essential things in becoming an S-Class wizard. So he promoted Grey and Gajeel instead." Natsu said with a smile that everyone could see was fake, but no one could really blame him.

"Sorry about that Natsu I just assumed after hearing that you tied Gildarts in the exams." said Lyon now also regretting that he congratulated him before he knew if he was actually promoted.

"I thought the same thing Lyon, so no problem man, I am just going to do what I always do and get back up and keep moving forward." replied Natsu with a little grin.

"Don't worry you are sure to get it next year Natsu." said Sherry trying to cheer him back up, once again making Chelia really regretting that she told them anything, they just kept on making it worse.

"Yeah, next year." Natsu said with a sad laugh.

"Next time I see Makarov I am going to have to have a few words with him." said Jura with a very serious expression on his face.

"Thanks Jura, but there is no need for that he might have been right to not promote me." replied Natsu not really wanting Jura to go and talk with Makarov.

"Well I will have to disagree with you both on that then." stated Jura.

"Thanks that means a lot coming from you." replied Natsu with a genuine smile on his face now.

"Hey Natsu I just noticed something, that I can't believe that I didn't notice earlier but where's Happy." asked Sherry.

"Oh Happy, yeah you know how he is." replied Natsu not really knowing what to say right now.

"I do and that is why it is odd to see you without him, you two are always together." said Sherry extremely curious where the blue flying cat could be.

"Oh well he decided that he didn't want to come with me on this trip." said Natsu nervously, which a few members noticed causing them to become more intrigued.

"Okay, but why are you here, you said earlier that you aren't doing a job?" asked Lyon remembering that was one of the reasons he used to get him to come back with them to the guild.

"You know, I guess I am just going sightseeing, yea that's what I am doing." said Natsu, which everyone listening could tell was a lie.

"Really, that doesn't seem like something you would do." stated Sherry, wondering why he wouldn't tell them why he was in the area.

"Well it is, and I need to be leaving soon. So let's go have that fight Jura." Natsu said as he got up and headed behind the guild making it impossible for the conversation to continue.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Lyon after Natsu's abrupt departure from the guild.

"I have no idea, but was it just me or did he start to lie to us at the end there?" asked Sherry.

"Nope Sherry it wasn't just you, and I intend to figure out why." replied Jura as he stood up and followed Natsu outside with the rest of the guild following after except for Chelia.

"I am so sorry Natsu, I never intended for this to happen." said Chelia almost in tears thinking what Natsu must be feeling right now, and thinking that it was all her fault.

When the guild got out to their arena they saw Natsu doing some stretches. He was no longer wearing his hat or glasses, while also taking off his coat and blazer as well. He had the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up too his elbows, and then they noticed that his scarf was tucked into the top of the shirt that was unbuttoned. Over all he still looked good in his white pin-striped pants and vest, with the black shirt and white dress shoes.

"Are you ready Jura?" asked Natsu with his normal grin back on his face.

"Yes, but can we add something to this match?" Jura asked back.

"Like what?" inquired Natsu.

"That if I win you will tell me why you lied to us back there." stated Jura.

"Okay but what happens if I win?" asked Natsu.

"If that happens then you won't have to answer any of our questions and you can be on your merry way." replied Jura also doing a little stretching.

"Now we got ourselves a deal, I was starting to get tired of all the questions." stated Natsu as he cracked his neck.

"That's a shame because you are going to have to answer a few more here shortly." responded Jura unleashing some of his magic.

"Is that so? We'll see about that Jura." said Natsu as he too unleashed some of his magic, which caused all of the spectators to start feeling warm. What shocked everyone was that his magic then passed what Jura was unleashing and seemed to keep going up and up.

"Impressive Natsu." stated Jura after getting over the shock of Natsu's raw power.

"Oh you haven't seeing anything yet Jura." replied Natsu with a smirk.

"Let's not get too cocky." said Jura.

"Let's do this, I'm all fired up." stated Natsu as he smashed a fist into his open palm.

"Come then Salamander." replied Jura giving, the bring it, sign with his hand.

"Like I said before I have to leave soon. So I am going to end this fast." Natsu replied back to Jura.

"And I told you that you being cocky isn't a good thing. **SUPREME KING ROCK CRUSH!** " shouted out as he then made all of the rocks in the area start pelting Natsu, and then form around him until he was completely incased in rocks. Jura then slammed his palms together causing the rocks to explode.

"Sorry Natsu but I have to know what's going on." said Jura assuming that Natsu was finished by that move.

"Well now who's the cocky one?" asked Natsu standing there with his right sleeve about to fall off and a few other rips here and there on the rest of his outfit. But the most surprising part was that he barely looked damaged with the exception of a few cuts and bruises.

"But how?" asked Jura completely thrown by Natsu taking on an attack like that and only coming out with a few cuts.

" **LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON GOD MODE!** " bellowed Natsu as black and orange flames engulfed his body along with the occasional bolt of lightning racing across his body.

"What the hell is this?" asked Jura, never having seen Natsu use this before.

"Oh this, it's what I used to tie Gildarts and I would have won too, but Master Makarov didn't want Gildarts out of commission so he had us stop." replied Natsu with a grin that looked way to sinister on him, it was probably due to the black flames.

"No I was wondering how you have the flames of a God slayer?" asked Jura.

"Oh that, well it actually happened before I got my lighting. I had to eat these flames otherwise Master Makarov would have died; actually I am pissed at myself for not using them sooner. It's the same concept as when I use lighting except for the damage behind it is quite a bit worse. Oh and I am going to apologize in advance Jura, like I keep saying I have to go." said Natsu.

"Sorry for what?" asked Jura.

"For this, **LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON GOD'S ROAR!** " shouted Natsu as he unleashed a roar that was twice as big as his normal one.

 **"ROCK MOUNTAIN!"** shouted Jura knowing that his Iron Rock Wall would have had no chance stopping that roar. Unfortunately it seemed that his best defense spell also wasn't enough to stop it as he now watched his stone solider start to crack and then burst in front of him. Luckily this gave him just enough time to drop the earth underneath to get out of the way of the roar, that continued on into the air where it couldn't harm anyone and finally dispersed.

 **"IRON ROCK FIST!"** shouted Jura as he came back out of the ground and sent fist after fist at Natsu.

 **"LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON GOD'S IRON FIST!"** shouted Natsu as he ran forward at Jura's iron rock fists and smashing them like they were nothing, and getting closer to Jura by the second.

 **"RUMBLING MT. FUJI!"** shouted Jura as Natsu was right in front of him, shocking most of his guild members that he would use such a strong move on someone he was having a friendly fight with.

"I really didn't want to use that on you Natsu, I'm so sorry." said Jura as the spell was about to finish.

"There you go again apologize when it isn't needed." said Natsu to the right side of Jura.

"But how?" asked Jura not able to do anything else as Natsu cocked back his arm.

" **LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON GOD'S FIRING HAMMER!** " shouted Natsu as he hit Jura in the center of his chest with his fist and forearm completely covered with black and orange fire with some lightning mixed in as well.

"You probably would have had me with that last move Jura, if I hadn't seen you use it in the last Grand Magic Games; I never forget moves that I see in a fight. And I got away from it in the last second with my lightning, so I am going to call this my win, I don't want to hurt you more than I already have." stated Natsu as he deactivated his **LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON GOD MODE** and then walked over to the downed Jura.

"No hard feelings Jura?" asked Natsu reaching a hand down to help him up.

"Yep no hard feelings Natsu, it was just a friendly fight that I just lost." said Jura while smiling up at Natsu and then passing out.

"Oh shit I might have hit him too hard?" Natsu shouted out in a panic, luckily Chelia was out at this point and rushed over to Jura to check him out.

"Oh man, oh man, oh man, he better not die on me I only hit him once he blocked all of the other things I threw at him." said Natsu as he paced back and forth behind Chelia.

"Calm down Natsu, you didn't kill him you just broke a few ribs. He's only passed out he will be fine in a few days." said Chelia as she got back up and let some of her guild mates take Jura to the infirmary.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you Chelia you're the best." said Natsu as he hugged the girl and spun around with her.

"You're welcome Natsu but I didn't do anything." replied Chelia liking right now where she was at, in between Natsu's strong arms and now noticing that his right sleeve was gone which meant, oh no.

"But you did Chelia, you told me that I didn't kill him which is great news." said Natsu with a huge smile on his face and finally stopped spinning the poor girl.

"You should probably let me go now, and put your cloths back on." she whispered to Natsu hoping that nobody would notice it.

"Oh my bad, sorry about that sometimes I just get too excited." said Natsu as he released her from his hug and went over to his pile of belongings.

Needless the rest of Lamia Scale were so shocked with how Natsu easily took out Jura that they all just sat there looking at him in complete disbelief. They all new that Natsu was strong, that was made abundantly clear in the Grand Magic Games, which was then trounced by the fact that right after that being the sole reason why most of them weren't dead by taking Mother Glare down and destroying the Eclipse Gate. They then heard how he and the rest of his guild took down the last guild of the Balam Alliance, which was apparently composed of actual demons. This cause everyone to look at him and wonder what is he, because if it was just a dragon slayer thing, then they had no chance in hell at this year's Grand Magic Games because Fairy Tail had three more of them. That was just when some of the members noticed something about Natsu as he made his way to his stuff, his right sleeve was gone and where his Fairy Tail emblem is usually displayed proudly, it was now completely barren.

"Oh my god Natsu, what happened to your guild mark?" asked Sherry looking at him confused why it wasn't there.

"Oh shit!" Natsu whispered as he looked at his right arm and noticed that his sleeve was gone.

"Yea Natsu what's up?" asked Lyon.

"What's going on Natsu?" asked a random member.

"Remember the terms of the fight, no more questions." replied Natsu as he slipped the rest of his things back on.

"Oh come on Natsu you can't expect us to follow that after what we just saw." stated Lyon now angry that Natsu was trying to get away from the question again.

"I can and do." stated Natsu as he started to leave.

"But Natsu, we want to help you." said Sherry and she really meant it.

"Thanks I really appreciate your concern, but as I have said before I have to go." and with that said, Natsu once again continued to leave.

"That's bullshit Natsu, now just tell us what's going on?" shouted Lyon, which caused Natsu to only chuckle and think man what is with me and ice mages, they just get so angry so fast with me, as he continued on not even stopping.

"Don't you ignore me Natsu Dragneel!" shouted Lyon ready to go after him.

"Stop Lyon." said Ooba Babasaaama the Master of Lamia Scale.

"But why Master?" asked Lyon.

"Because he obviously doesn't want our help and also because of the fight, we can't go back on the word of one of our members now can we?" replied Master Ooba.

"Oh come on that is just stupid, we need to figure out what's going on here!" shouted Lyon.

"Isn't it obvious Lyon." said Chelia quietly but just loud enough for him to hear.

"You know what's going on Chelia?" asked Lyon somewhat settling down now that he might get some answers.

"Natsu left Fairy Tail." mumbled Chelia.

"What was that, I couldn't hear you Chelia?" said Lyon.

"Natsu left Fairy Tail!" shouted Chelia as laud as she could.

"No way, he would never do that!" stated Lyon.

"Lyon's right Natsu loves Fairy Tail with all his heart." stated Sherry.

"Yea Chelia you've seen what he's done for Fairy Tail, why would he, leave them now?" asked a member.

"That I don't fully know and even if I did I wouldn't tell you guys it's not my place. But what I do know is that he most definitely left Fairy Tail, and if you still don't believe me after seeing that his guild mark is gone, then you should when I tell you that I knew about it before he even came here. Wendy told me two days after it happened and she would never lie to me about something like that, now if you will all please excuse me I need to be somewhere else right now." said Chelia and then quickly made her way back to her room so she could be alone.

"What the hell could have happened to make someone that loyal leave?" asked a random member.

"I don't know but it must have been pretty bad." stated someone else. More comments like these we being asked and for the rest of the day all of Lamia Scale were discussing what could have caused Natsu to leave and coming up with all sorts of crazy scenarios of why he left.

But two members who had been with him longer than anybody except for Chelia new that something was wrong now when they looked back and it became painfully obvious that he did indeed leave Fairy Tail. How he was reluctant at first to come back with them, probably afraid that something like this would happen, how he got sad occasionally at the mention of something specifically related to Fairy Tail. His overall new look made sense now, he was starting over trying to make his own path. Also how when talking about the Grand Magic Games he laughed at the comments that he wouldn't be able to help them win, which was apparently so true now, and why he lied about not being with Happy and why he was in the area. It all made sense now, it also explained why Chelia was also acting strange during the day, needless to say they both felt stupid for somewhat forcing Natsu to come to their guild and then unknowingly figuring out that he left Fairy Tail. They both just hoped that he would make it through this and still be the Natsu that everybody knows and loves. But then some member had a realization and made the guild go crazy.

"You guys I just realized that Natsu is a mage without a guild, meaning that whatever guild that he joins will have a really good chance of taking first place." said a member shocked at what he just figured out.

"That's not all, we're probably the only other guild that knows about this right now." said a different member.

"Your right which means that we can ask him to join our guild before someone else does." said another member.

"Oh my god we need to find him fast." said someone else.

"Yea but do we have any idea where he was going because he left four hours ago and we don't have a nose like he does." said a member of the guild.

"Shit you're right, so that means that we need to try and keep this info quiet and keep an eye out when we are on quests." said one of the members actually coming up with a good solid plan.

"Hey has anyone seen Kaoru?" asked a guild member.

"No why do want to find him?" asked someone else.

"Well because he took some photos of Natsu throughout the day and apparently got some good ones during the fight." replied the member that asked.

"Actually I did see him, he left a little bit after the fight." said one of their newer members.

"Oh no you don't think he's doing what I think he is doing, do you?" said the member that came up with the plan.

"I am almost certain that he did." said a different member who now became angry.

"Did he happen to take his camera when he left?" he asked his guild mate that saw Kaoru leave.

"Yes he did, why does that matter?" replied the newer member, now confused why that matters.

"God dammit Kaoru, now we are losing the slight edge that we had on finding Natsu and getting him to join our guild." said the member clearly pissed off that his plans were now going to be ruined.

"I am still confused how are we, losing our edge?" asked a newer member.

"Because there is a high chance that Kaoru just went out and sold pictures of his new look, and the information that he is no longer a member of Fairy Tail and maybe even that he beat Jura easily." stated a different member who clearly understood everything that is going on.

"But if he sold it to someone from Sorcerer's Weekly, which is likely that he did because they pay more, then they are going to have to fact check it before they publish it. They wouldn't want to piss Fairy Tail or the Salamander off, which still means that we probably have a week to three weeks tops before all of Fiore knows about this." said a member who oddly knew a lot about Sorcerer's Weekly.

"Oh my god you're right, which means my plan can still work." shouted out the member.

"Which means we would definitely have a better chance of winning this year's Grand Magic Games if he have both Jura and Natsu on our team!" shouted out another excited member.

"All right, so everyone understands the plan, which means that we all need to go out there and do jobs so we can find him. Make sure to occasionally ask about someone that fits his new look, this means that no one should be at the guild unless they are picking up a new job or have brought Natsu back." shouted a member with a shit ton of enthusiasm and then took off to the request board to grab a job and go look. He was soon followed by almost the all of the guild.

"Only you could cause this much chaos Natsu from a single visit." said Lyon smirking at how quickly his guild got worked up in trying to get him to join them.

"You are definitely right on that one Lyon, but think about what it would be like if he was actually a member." stated Sherry with a huge grin on her face thinking about all of the crazy shit that would happen just by having him there.

"Oh god you don't think we would then turn into how Fairy Tail always acts do you?" asked Lyon scared that she might say yes.

"I don't know, but there is a good possibility, I mean all of their stories seem to start and end with Natsu." replied Sherry still grinning.

"Oh god you're right, I have to stop them before they actually succeed and bring him back. I couldn't handle all of that craziness that is why I joined Lamia Scale, we are a proper guild that knows how to act like a guild should." said Lyon getting up ready to round up the rest of his guild and explain to them why they shouldn't actively search for him.

"But Lyon that was the old Natsu we're talking about, you saw how he was now he didn't even fight that guy after he called his hair pink." replied Sherry not wanting Lyon to go out and prevent the other members from getting Natsu.

"You're right, but it is still too risky I have to explain what could happen if they brought him back." said Lyon as he took off to find his guild mates and explain to them what he just realized could happen.

"HAHAHA, like Lyon said earlier only you, Natsu can make people act this way." said Sherry as she laughed to herself.

Back with Natsu

Well so much for keeping a low profile Natsu thought to himself. I knew something like that was going to happen if I went there, but hey it was bound to get out sooner or later right. At least I got a good fight out of it and some free food and caught up with some old friends. I mean come on I have never been good at keeping a low profile; I don't even know why I tried. Now it's time to see if it's a monster or a demon in those mountains, thought Natsu as he could be seen heading towards some mountains in the far off distance.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **There you have it readers Natsu's first interaction with a different Guild and it won't be his last. Thanks to all of you readers that reviewed and I hoped that this chapter answered some of your questions if not then they will be answered later. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it, and as always feel free to give me a review, what did you like what didn't you like what could I have done to make it better. But thanks again for reading.**

 **Until the next chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	16. Things to Think About

Chapter 16: Things to Think About

It was now getting late and the sun was setting behind the mountains which was his next destination, when Natsu felt that he was getting a call and looked at his wrist and saw that it was Wendy. Well I guess that Chelia felt the need to call Wendy and tell her what happened, thought Natsu as he answered the call.

"What's up Wendy?" asked Natsu.

"You know what's up Natsu-nii, I thought you said you wanted to keep a low profile?" questioned Wendy and also sounding a little pissed off as him.

"So I take it Chelia called you?" stated Natsu more than asked.

"Yes, and you thought, hey why not get in a fight with Jura and then you actually won. That is going to spread so fast, along with the fact that you are no longer part of Fairy Tail." said Wendy.

"Well first off I have wanted to fight Jura forever, actually ever since I met you, and also they were starting to ask questions that I really couldn't and didn't want to answer. Also I have realized that it was a stupid idea for me to try and be discrete, a lot of people know me and I don't really want to always be hiding, so that just means that I will just always have to be on the move, like I originally planned." replied Natsu.

"Well I guess Natsu-nii, but Chelia is now feeling really bad about what happened at her guild and blames herself for it." responded Wendy.

"What are you talking about Wendy, she didn't do anything wrong, I really actually enjoyed her company. Do you think that you could do me a huge favor and tell her that it wasn't her fault, and that I really enjoyed spending the day with her?" asked Natsu, hoping that she would do this for him.

"Of course I can Natsu-nii, I actually already told her the first part but she wouldn't listen to me. I think she might think that you won't want to see her after this." stated Wendy.

"Well how am I going to fix this, because I definitely can't go back there for a while?" asked Natsu while scratching the back of his head trying to come up with a solution.

"I really don't know Natsu-nii, I guess I could call her back and try to explain everything." said Wendy not really seeing anything else that they could do right now.

"That would be great, you can also say that I am excited to visit her and then pay a visit to Emi with her as well within the next four months considering I plan on being all over the place. Oh and that I really don't blame her at all, if anything she seemed to help and steer the conversations to less Fairy Tail related topics which I really appreciated." said Natsu.

"Yeah I can do that for you Natsu-nii, so how was the fight?" asked Wendy after agreeing to try and comfort Chelia for Natsu.

"It was actually kind of boring, because I had to get out of there as soon as possible." replied Natsu.

"How so, I mean Jura is a very strong opponent Natsu-nii?" asked Wendy.

"Well, like I said earlier I had to end it as fast as I could, so I went to my new mode right off the bat. And well Jura thought that he got me with one of his moves, which he would have if I hadn't seen him use it before. This caused him to let his guard down and then I snuck in a lucky shot that just barely got him to pass out, and as you know my clothes ripped exposing my bare right shoulder, which then caused me to depart from their guild." explained Natsu.

"I can see how you would find that boring if you just got in a lucky shot Natsu-nii." replied Wendy a little disappointed that she didn't get to hear one of Natsu's epic tales about a fight.

"Yeah but next time we fight it is going to be so much better, because he will never let his guard down around me again." stated Natsu.

"HEHEHE I bet, you are definitely going to have to tell me about that fight afterwards Natsu-nii." said Wendy while giggling at Natsu already planning on the next fight.

"Of course I am going to tell you about it, you're one of the few people who actually enjoy listening to my stories Wendy." replied Natsu.

"So Chelia mentioned something about your new look, what's that all about Natsu-nii?" asked Wendy realizing that she really enjoyed calling him Natsu-nii now.

"Yea I got a whole new outfit, it is really going to surprise you!" said Natsu clearly happy about his new look.

"Well what is it, Mira and I are both curious?" asked Wendy.

"You're going to have to wait and see Wendy. Wait a second did you just say Mira and I?" asked Natsu confused how Mira knows about it as well.

"Yea, Mira and I now talk about you each night before we leave the guild." replied Wendy as if it was obvious.

"And what do you talk about?" asked Natsu feeling a sense of dread coming.

"Pretty much everything Natsu-nii, like tonight before I left I informed her of what Chelia told me." said Wendy

"Shit so she knows about my fight, she is going to be so pissed at me." replied Natsu envisioning the call he was probably going to get soon from said white haired lady.

"Why do you say that Natsu-nii, because when I told her she started to giggle and said that sounds like Natsu and at least we know that you are still Natsu." elaborated Wendy, on why she wondered why Natsu thought that she would be mad at him.

"Well that's good to hear, so is it safe to assume that if I tell one of you two something that the other will know about it tomorrow night?" asked Natsu wanting to confirm his suspicions.

"Yep Natsu-nii, why is that a bad thing?" asked Wendy wondering if all of her conversations were just supposed to be between them.

"Nope not at all Wendy, just wondering." replied Natsu.

"Well I am going to cut this call short Natsu-nii, so that I can call Chelia and hopefully get her to believe me." said Wendy.

"Thanks again for that Wendy, and goodnight." said Natsu.

"No problem, goodnight Natsu-nii." replied Wendy and with that the call ended.

"Well I wonder when I will get Mira's call?" asked Natsu as he continued walking by himself as it continued to get darker. It was about a full hour and a half before Natsu received a call from Mira, and by that time he had already found a nice tree branch to sleep for the night.

"Hello Mira." said Natsu.

"Hello Natsu." replied Mira.

"So to what do I owe the pleasure of this call Mira?" asked Natsu.

"Why are you talking that way Natsu?" asked Mira slightly concerned that this wasn't Natsu.

"Well I am trying to speak in a more elegant manner." replied Natsu.

"And why would you start doing that now?" asked Mira.

"Because I don't want everyone thinking I am the old Natsu anymore." answered Natsu.

"I thought that you didn't care what people thought of you Natsu?" asked Mira.

"Well I don't really, but I do care that it seems that I am somewhat of a joke to people and they don't take me seriously." responded Natsu not really liking that it was what the majority of people thought about him.

"That isn't true Natsu and you know it, everyone knows of your strength and how you handle yourself in a fight." said Mira trying to get him to see that he was wrong.

"Your right Mira, but only when I am fighting, otherwise everyone sees me as a big idiot who never takes anything serious." refuted Natsu.

"That's not true either Natsu, lots of people know that you are kind and caring as well." replied Mira.

"Well my point is what everyone thinks for the other ninety percent of the time. Whatever so what did you call me for?" stated Natsu sounding a little harsher than he wanted to at the end of it.

"Don't use that tone with me Natsu Dragneel!" replied Mira angry that Natsu's tone got angrier there at the end.

"So why'd you call?" asked Natsu now in a monotone.

"Don't talk to me like that either, Natsu." stated Mira finding it much worse when Natsu talked with no emotion.

"I just can't win with you can I Mira?" said Natsu with a small chuckle.

"Nope, I will always win and it is about time that you realized that Natsu." said Mira glad that he seemed to be back to himself.

"So what's up?" asked Natsu for the fourth time.

"Just wondering what you have been up to, did you do anything exciting today?" asked Mira knowing that he did.

"Nope just same old, same old." replied Natsu knowing what Mira was doing.

"Don't lie to me Natsu." stated Mira.

"How do you know that I am lying, before you could only tell by looking at my face." replied Natsu grinning to himself.

"I just do Natsu, so stop lying to me and tell me what happened." demanded Mira.

"You wouldn't happen to know that I did something because of a blue haired dragon slayer, now would you?" asked Natsu.

"Wendy, what no, she didn't tell me anything." replied Mira not knowing why she denied it.

"Now who's the one lying, Mira?" asked Natsu loving the situation right now.

"Dammit, okay fine she did tell me, I just didn't think that she would just out and tell you that though." said Mira.

"She didn't, she just said that you and her were curious about my new outfit and how it looks. Which I caught your name and then asked her and she informed me that you two have been talking about me at night." replied Natsu.

"Okay, so what does it look like Natsu?" asked Mira wondering what strange outfit he is sporting now.

"I am going to tell you the same thing I told Wendy, you're going to have to wait and see." replied Natsu enjoying that this little thing is bugging her.

"Oh come on Natsu, please at least give me a little hint." begged Mira.

"Okay, just a little one, it is something that you would probably have never guessed that I picked out for myself." said Natsu smirking to himself knowing that it wasn't going to help her.

"Oh come on Natsu that doesn't help me at all, it could still be literally anything." said Mira.

"I know right, that is why I gave that to you as a hint." replied Natsu.

"Your no fun Natsu, so want to tell me about what happened today?" asked Mira after her little pout session.

"Sure, why not, Mira it all started like any other day." Natsu said as he then went on to tell her all that happened to him earlier that day.

"Wow that is a lot to happen in one day, but I shouldn't be surprised it's you that were talking about here, Natsu." said Mira as she giggled to herself.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Natsu a little offended by that comment.

"It's that you somehow always have something exciting happening around you Natsu." replied Mira.

"Yea I guess you're right." said Natsu not being able to argue with that.

"I am just glad that you were there to save Emi." said Mira thinking how bad that could have become for the little girl if Natsu wasn't there.

"Yea it shows, at least to me, that my leaving Fairy Tail can definitely have some positive effects. Also you need to meet her Mira she is a really cute girl, and I can tell that she is going to be a little hell raiser like me when she grows up." said Natsu.

"Never thought about it that way Natsu, and I might just have to go with you when you see her next." replied Mira.

"Okay, well it's a date then Mira." said Natsu thinking about how much fun he could have with Mira and Chelia when he goes and visits Emi.

"Okay Natsu." stuttered out Mira from only hearing Natsu say it was going to be a date, but she knew that he didn't mean it that way. But that didn't mean that she couldn't, at least in her mind that is.

"I also noticed that you were able to not give any information away about your outfit, when you were telling me about everyone's reaction. And judging by how you described their reactions it must be quite the change." pointed out Mira.

"Yea half of Lamia Scale really didn't believe it was me even after Chelia introduced me to them." replied Natsu chuckling that apparently that small of a change, caused people to not believe it was him.

"Man I really want to know what you look like, are you sure you can't tell me?" asked Mira trying to sound sad so that Natsu would feel bad and give in.

"You know that works a lot better when I can see you Mira?" Natsu informed Mira.

"I know, but I still had to try, I still can't believe that you actually went to Lamia Scale." stated Mira.

"Well I was actually only planning on visiting their town, and why is that so shocking?" asked Natsu.

"Well the whole guild was trying to guess where you would go, or what guild you might go to and join, but no one really guessed Lamia Scale. A lot of the guild thought you might go to Sabretooth, I think that is actually where your old team headed to start the search." informed Mira.

"HAHAHA I am pretty far from them right now then, but actually they only got one of the directions wrong, if they had gone south rather than north we might have run into each other. So wait, why did everyone think that I went to Sabretooth?" inquired Natsu after chuckling at his old team.

"Well, since we have completely patched things up between them and you are such good friends with Sting and Rogue, they thought that you might join them. Also as a pleasant bonus in their opinion you might be able to help them take the number one guild away from us, since they are still really strong and we still do have a small rivalry." explained Mira.

"I guess that makes sense if I wanted to instantly join a different guild, but that is about the last thing I want to do." stated Natsu.

"Well it's not that I want you to join a different guild, but why is that the last thing that you would want to do Natsu?" asked Mira.

"Well you know Mira; it just wouldn't feel right especially right after leaving Fairy Tail. Also I have other things to do, which being part of a guild would actually slow down." replied Natsu to Mira's question.

"And what is that exactly Natsu?" asked Mira having no idea what he could actually have planned.

"Well that is a secret that I even can't tell you Mira, for at least now anyway." said Natsu.

"Okay I guess I will just have to wait until you tell me than." replied Mira.

"Yep and thanks for not asking anymore." responded Natsu.

"No problem Natsu, anyway I think that I have kept you up long enough. Well goodnight Natsu." said Mira.

"Goodnight Mira." replied Natsu and with that they both went to sleep.

 **The next moring at Fairy Tail:**

"Mira you're never going to guess what I learned!" shouted Wendy as she ran through the doors and even knocked over a few people in the process, and then headed towards Mira at the bar. What surprised the guild was that Wendy didn't even apologize for it or even seem to notice what she just did, which is completely not a Wendy thing to do. This caused a lot of the members to watch her and listen in on the important news that she apparently had for Mira.

"Okay Wendy, what did you learn?" asked Mira with her usual smile.

"I found out what Natsu-nii's new outfit is!" replied Wendy cheerfully.

"What, really, so what is it Wendy you have to tell me!" demanded Mira.

"This is hard to believe, but Natsu-nii is now wearing a suit!" declared Wendy quite loudly.

"What?" asked Mira and half of the guild that was listening in, this caused Wendy to realize that she was now going to have to answer a whole lot of questions.

"Crap, I should have told you that in private." mumbled Wendy, disappointed that she let her excitement get the better of herself.

"Like hell you should have Wendy, if you know stuff about Natsu than you need to tell us." stated Jet.

"Yea Jet's right." chimed in Droy.

"I don't have to tell you guys anything about Natsu if I don't want to. He is no longer a member of Fairy Tail meaning he is just a friend of mine, so I don't have to tell you guys anything if I don't want to." refuted Wendy.

"She's right Jet and Droy, she doesn't have to tell us anything about her personal life she doesn't want too." said Levy.

"Thanks Levy." said Wendy giving her a smile, which she received right back from Levy.

"No Levy you're wrong Natsu is our friend too, so Wendy you need to tell us what you know." replied Jet, shocking almost everyone that he just said that Levy was wrong.

"Some friend, you were part of the reason why he left in the first place!" shouted Wendy starting to get angry.

"Wendy that was un-called for." chastised Mira.

"Sorry." whispered Wendy now looking down at her feet.

"Well since they already know that you know what he looks like, you might as well explain to me and them at the same time Wendy." said Mira quietly to Wendy.

"Okay why not. Okay so get this he now wears a full suit with a blazer and a vest, apparently no tie since he has his scarf that he tucks into the top of his dress shirt. He also seems to have the blazer open most of the time and even wears shoes, for some reason I thought that he would still be wearing sandals, and the whole outfit was white with black pinstripes. But that isn't all he now wears sunglasses and a hat, and he wears a black duster draped over his shoulders, but the thing that stands out the most is that he now has an emblem of a dragon on the back of his duster and on other articles of his clothing." said Wendy once again getting excited about telling Mira what Natsu now looks like.

"Really Wendy?" asked Mira trying to picture how he looks but for some reason not being able to.

"Yep, and I saved the best part for last, Natsu-nii now has red tips in his hair." said Wendy now giggling to herself at the image in her head of what that looks like.

"No way, you have to be lying." stated Cana who hadn't taken a drink during Wendy's explanation of Natsu's new look.

"I am not Cana, I have it from a very reliable source, she actually spent the whole day with him." said Wendy proud that she was the first from the guild to know this.

"Who cares what Salamander looks like, he will still be the same Salamander." grunted Gajeel from his table in the corner.

"I don't know about that Gajeel, I would agree if he did a small change, but this it's just too huge." replied Cana shaking her head not being able to see Natsu in the outfit that Wendy described.

"Wendy my dear, could you please tell us who told you this, so that we can see if they would lie to you." asked Master Makarov.

"Chelia would never lie to me about something like this!" shouted out Wendy defending her close friend.

"Wendy that was too easy." said Mira as she was shaking her head back and forth.

"What?" asked Wendy looking at Mira, who just pointed a finger at Makarov who had a huge smile on his face.

"Crap!" said Wendy as she dropped her head onto the counter of the bar.

"Levy would you please contact Team Natsu and have them come back, be sure to tell them that we have news on him." Master Makarov asked Levy.

"Yes Master." replied Levy as she set out to do what the Master asked her to do.

"That Team doesn't exist anymore, he's not part of the guild anymore so how can he have a team still!" shouted Wendy after lifting her head off of the counter.

"Sorry Wendy but they decided to keep that name, maybe in hopes that he will come back soon." replied Master Makarov.

"Well that is the dumbest thing I have ever heard, they have no right to keep that name, and it's his actual name!" Wendy once again shouted at the Master.

"It isn't my decision to make Wendy." replied Master Makarov with a small frown because of how Wendy was acting.

"You are the Master for crying out loud, just tell them to switch it!" shouted Wendy.

"Sorry but I can't Wendy." replied Makarov still frowning.

"Oh you can't can you, but it is completely fine to trick me into giving information on someone who no longer wants anything to do with this guild. Well guess what I am starting to see why, and just so you know you are never going to get any more information about him from me, even if it's a matter of life and death!" shouted Wendy as she then left a stunned guild in her wake as she ran out of the guild.

"And I thought that she was doing so well since Natsu left, she looked so determined to get stronger." said Master Makarov out loud to no one particular.

"She was Master, until you tricked her that is." stated Mira having lost her smile that she usually has.

"And why is that such a big deal Mira?" asked Master Makarov.

"You really can't see why, you have been missing a lot of things lately Master. Well I'll explain it too you then, what you did by tricking her into giving that info to you, was the equivalent of her betraying Natsu in her eyes. Which is also why she then said that bold statement at the end and intends to keep it, so we all better hope that there is no situation where we need to get information about Natsu from Wendy, because there is no way in Hell you are getting it from her now." stated Mira as she walked away from the Master and left him with his thoughts.

"Shit how did I not see that, and I to hope that Mira." mumbled the Master to himself.

"Master I got into contact with Team Natsu and they will be here in two days." Levy informed the Master.

"Thanks Levy, I am going to my office to make a call to Ooba and see what I can figure out." said Master Makarov as he headed up to his office.

"I still can't imagine Natsu in an outfit like that." stated Macao shaking his head.

"Me either, but then again I never imagined him leaving Fairy Tail." replied Wakaba.

"I wonder if he can actually pull it off?" asked Laki.

"There is no way, this is Natsu were talking about here." replied Max.

"Sorry Max but I have to disagree with you, after thinking about it I bet he is pulling it. Actually I bet he looks like a complete hunk or maybe even sexy." stated Cana, receiving a glare from Mira that no one noticed.

"Really Cana, you actually think that?" asked a skeptical Levy.

"Dam right I do, actually I am willing to start taking bets on this." shouted Cana as members were no placing bets on it.

"I bet he will still look like a Man!" shouted Elfman trying to put that in as a bet, which Cana wouldn't allow.

"I still don't know why any of you care." grunted Gajeel but was ignored by almost everyone.

"HAHAHA the Salamander isn't even part of the guild or here anymore and is still getting more attention than you." snickered Pantherlily.

"Shut up Lily." grumbled Gajeel realizing that he was right.

"Well here is that I think he probably looks like according to Wendy's description." said Reedus instantly getting the attention of the whole guild as he slowly turned around his painting. Causing everyone to have their mouths drop open at the painting, that actually looked really close to what Natsu now looks like.

"Shit there goes my fucking jewels." shouted Macao.

"Dammit" mumbled Wakaba, and a whole lot of other members betting that he couldn't pull it off.

"See I told you guys, you should have listened to me. He looks like a sexy hunk, right on both accounts." declared Cana as the started to divide the winnings out to those that bet with her, which wasn't that many just a few girls. For the next two hours once again all conversation was on Natsu, why was he with Chelia, what did the two of them do and of course a lot of the conversations were about his new look.

"Listen up brats, I just got done talking with Master Ooba and Jura from Lamia Scale, and have some more news about Natsu." said the Master as he came out of his office and stood on the railing, causing everyone to quiet down and listen to him.

"Now it isn't much, they both seemed like they weren't telling everything but I am sure that they have their reasons. So first off Natsu did happen to visit Lamia Scale yesterday, but they have no idea where he is now. While their he surprisingly didn't destroy anything and apparently was very well behaved, but Natsu being Natsu, he and Jura had a friendly fight which Natsu won and then left without saying a word." said Makarov to his guild.

"Wow he ties Gildarts and then beats Jura, that kid is something else." said Max.

"And that something else is being a sexy hunk." replied Cana as she waved around the painting of Natsu, once again getting a glare from someone.

"So that is what he now looks like, I do have to say it looks like he is pulling it off." stated the Master looking at the painting.

 **Two days Later:**

On the side of a mountain is Natsu Dragneel in his plan red suit, who appears to be sitting on a boulder. But it most certainly is not a boulder; it is in fact the monster that he had been fighting all night long. Its appearance most resembled that of a crocodile except for the fact that it was the size of a small house, had red scales and yellow spikes and claws.

"You were a very formidable foe Mr. Croc, but unfortunately you ran into me." said Natsu as he patted the top of its head while sitting on the top of its mouth.

"If it had been almost any other Mage you probably would still be causing havoc on all the nearby villages." he said as he slid down off of its head and landing on the ground.

"But fate seemed to have a different plan for you, because it brought the two of us together." Natsu said as he looked at the massive crocodile in front of him.

"I actually don't even know what you really are, I should probably work on that." stated Natsu as he rubbed the back of his head.

"What I do know is that your flames tasted great, almost as good as Igneel's. I also know that no one can beat me with fire." said Natsu now with a grin on his face.

"Well, I think I have enough of your scales, claws, and teeth, I wonder if they are worth anything?" asked Natsu now looking up at the rising sun.

"It was a great fight croc, I really hope that there are more of you out there, because I could go for another one of those fights." said Natsu as he turned and started to head down the mountain.

"I think I need to get some books, expand my knowledge like Levy always tried to get me to do when we were younger, I think I will head to Crocus Levy did always say that they had the best collection of books." said Natsu as he continued down the mountain with both hands behind his head.

"I wonder what's happening at Fairy Tail right now, nah it's none of my business anymore." said Natsu and then started to whistle.

 **Meanwhile at Fairy Tail:**

"Wow he was actually able to beat one of the Ten Wizard Saints!" stated Grey, shocked at what he just heard.

"Impressive indeed." replied Erza.

"Well he did tie Gildarts so it actually didn't surprise me that much and no I am not saying Jura isn't strong, it's just that we are talking about Natsu here. He has always been able to beat stronger opponents than him so it makes sense that he would be able to handle someone at his level." said Lucy.

"Wait are you saying that Natsu is on par with some of the Saints?" asked Grey.

"Yes Grey, did you not hear what I just said?" Lucy asked back.

"No way Flame Brain is that strong he must have just gotten Lucky." replied Grey.

"Both times?" asked Lucy.

"Yep" was Grey's only response.

"No one can be that lucky." refuted Lucy.

"Well Natsu has time and time again." interjected Erza.

"Whatever, I still can't believe this is what he now looks like." said Lucy gesturing at the painting.

"You can say that again, it barely looks like the Natsu that we know." said Erza staring at the painting of what they think he looks like.

"Erza don't you mean the Natsu we knew?" questioned Grey, causing the two girls to sadden some at the thought.

"No Grey, she did not, he is still the same Natsu that we all know. Now I am just guessing here but this might be his way of growing up, like almost everyone in the guild wanted him too." said Mira as she swooped by them and then was gone after she said her piece.

"Yea Mira's right, I did mean that Grey." said Erza slightly brightening up after hearing what Mira had to say.

"Do you think she is right about the other part too?" asked Lucy still blaming herself for his departure.

"About him doing this as a way to grow up?" Grey asked back.

"Yeah, well?" replied Lucy.

"I don't know Lucy, we just all learned that there was a lot that we didn't know about him." replied Grey looking sadder at what he just said.

"You have a point Grey, which is why I am going to have to with this is him definitely trying to be more mature." replied Erza.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Lucy looking at Erza waiting for an explanation.

"Well what I at least learned from this is that Mira definitely knows the most about Natsu, maybe even more than Happy, and because of that I believe that she is probably right on this." explained Erza.

"Oh yeah, where is Happy, I thought that he would be helping us try and find Natsu, and Wendy too?" asked Lucy looking around for them.

"I asked them and they both before we left last time and they turned me down, and didn't even give any explanation why." replied Erza.

"Really, that seems odd I wonder why they don't want to look with us?" asked Lucy.

"I've been wondering the same thing Lucy." stated Erza.

"I bet it has to do with whatever was in their note from him." said Grey as he shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care.

"Well we at least know where he last was two days ago, so let's head to the train and find him." said Erza as she lead her small group to the doors of the guild, but were stopped by someone with blue hair.

"Hey Wendy do you want to come along with us and help search for Natsu?" asked Lucy thinking that was why Wendy stopped them.

"No and you guys should stop looking for him too!" said Wendy in a voice louder than her normal one, shocking them because of what she said and how she said it.

"Why would we do that Wendy, we need to apologize to him." stated Erza.

"Because he obviously doesn't want to see you guys or hear your apology that was too late." snapped Wendy.

"You don't know that!" shouted Lucy at Wendy hoping that she was wrong.

"You're right Lucy, but I do know that you won't even come close to finding him unless he wants you too." replied Wendy.

"And how do you know this Wendy?" asked Erza.

"I am a dragon slayer as well, and I can smell you three, three miles away and I have the worst nose out Gajeel, Natsu, and Me." replied Wendy still standing her ground.

"We know that but we still need to try." said Grey finally speaking up, which instantly made Wendy madder.

"Well I guess I shouldn't really care if you guys waste your time to get absolutely zero results. But you guys aren't leaving until you change your team name." said Wendy still blocking their way out.

"Wendy we don't have time for that." replied Erza taking a step forward, hoping to intimidate Wendy so that they could continue their search.

"Make time, Erza." growled Wendy causing Erza to take a step back.

"Why would we change our name?" asked Lucy.

"Because that team is dead!" shouted Wendy clearly showing to everyone that she was pissed.

"No it is not!" shouted back Erza not actually wanting to come to terms that their old team might never come back together. She still held hope that she would be able to convince Natsu to come back with them as soon as they found him that is.

"Yes it is Erza, and if you can't see that then you are as blind as a bat, I mean the person that your team is named after is no longer part of the guild how is it not dead?" asked Wendy while shouting.

"Because there is still a chance of us bring Natsu back to the guild." argued Erza.

"Even if he does come back do you really think that he will want to be on a team, that were the main reason for him leaving in the first place!" shouted Wendy, which caused all three of them to flinch at her words, knowing that she wasn't completely wrong on anything that she was shouting at them.

"Wendy that is enough! As I told you before we can't force them to change their team name." shouted Makarov at the beginning and then just speaking normally for the rest.

"Yes Master, then I also have the right to never work with any of them ever again." replied Wendy with a very serious expression.

"You don't mean that Wendy." said Master Makarov not believing what he is hearing from Wendy, who once was the nicest and kindest person of the guild.

"Yes Master I do!" replied Wendy.

"Wendy, what happened this isn't like your usual kind and caring self?" asked Makarov, with the whole guild wondering the exact same thing.

"Well Master, I saw what happened to the last person who was both of those, even more than me, and I decided last night that I wasn't going to let that happen to me. So now I am going to say what I mean and no longer keep it to myself, and also not be pushed around by anyone ever again, not even by people form my own guild." stated Wendy glaring at Team Natsu, shocking the whole guild by her words.

"Wendy,.." started Master Makarov.

"I don't want to hear it right now Master, I have things to do." she stated as she turned around and left a stunned guild, to soon be chased after by Romeo.

"What do you want Romeo?" asked Wendy knowing that Romeo chased after thanks to her nose.

"I just wanted to let you know that I agree with you." replied Romeo as he caught up with her.

"Really?" asked Wendy not really believing that anyone else would see things like she did.

"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have said it Wendy, I also wanted to ask if you wanted to start training with me?" said Romeo while he started shuffle his feet, showing that he was nervous.

"I would love to start training with you Romeo, do you want to start now?" said Wendy now smiling.

"Sure Wendy, but where are we going to train at?" replied Romeo.

"I know where, we can train at my place." said Wendy with a huge smile.

"That won't work Wendy, boys aren't allowed inside Fairy Hills." said Romeo knowing that Wendy knew this.

"Oh right, not too many people know that I moved, follow me and I will show you my new place." said Wendy who took off and was followed by Romeo.

"I can't believe that he actually gave you his house." said Romeo looking at the place and seeing that Wendy has been making the outside look better than Natsu ever did.

"Yep and he told me to do whatever I want with it which is why I am painting the outside blue." replied Wendy happily and proud of the work she and the two exceeds have done.

"Looks like this has been keeping you pretty busy, do you need any help?" asked Romeo looking at Wendy.

"Well yes, I actually do, could you help me carry some of Natsu's stuff to the basement." said Wendy shyly.

"No problem Wendy glad to help, so what does he have in the basement, he never took me down there whenever I was over?" asked Romeo.

"I actually don't know yet." stated Wendy slightly ashamed about it.

"Why not?" asked Romeo.

"Well Natsu wouldn't tell me, and whenever I ask Happy he makes a weird face and then flies off somewhere." replied Wendy.

"Well lets go check it out right now then." said Romeo as he grabbed Wendy's hand and headed to her house.

"You ready Wendy?" asked Romeo.

"Yep, let's see what he has down there." stated Wendy as she turned the knob and opened the door.

"I'll go first." said Romeo as he went down the stairs and was followed closely by Wendy. They were both shocked by what they found.

"This will definitely help with training." said Romeo as he let out a low whistle.

"You got that right." stated Wendy as she looked at all of the weight lifting equipment.

 **Back at the guild after Wendy and Romeo left:**

Team Natsu stood there for a few minutes not saying or doing anything, and when they did they simple left the guild not saying a single word to anyone.

"Well that was hard to watch." stated Wakaba as puffed out two smoke rings.

"Your telling me, who would have thought that Natsu leaving, would have made sweet Wendy into that." replied Macao.

"It's why Natsu left, that made Wendy into that, so can I get you two, anything?" said Mira to them.

"No thanks Mira and I guess you have a point there." they replied.

"Mira could you please get me a bottle of Whisky?" asked Master Makarov.

"Sure thing Master, I'll be back in a jiffy." replied Mira as she went to get it for him.

"Man did I screw up big time, this time." stated Makarov.

"What do you mean by that Master?" asked Macao.

"Well first off I never thought that Natsu would actually leave." replied Makarov.

"No one saw that one coming Master." said Wakaba trying to comfort his Master.

"I should have seen it, if I had then I could have prevented it." said Master Makarov.

"Like Wakaba said Master, no one saw this coming we all assumed that there was absolutely nothing that could cause Natsu to leave." said Macao.

"And that was the problem." said Makarov shaking his head.

"Here you go Master." said Mira as she handed him the bottle.

"Thanks Mira, and as I was going to say Macao, it was wrong of us to think of Natsu like that. He is a human like the rest of us, but no I assumed that there was no chance of this happening, always just assumed that he would be here like he always was before. And because of that he is now gone, which I know is going to cause big changes." said Makarov and then took a big chug strait from the bottle.

"What do you mean by big changes Master?" asked Wakaba.

"Well first off it is going to turn the wizarding world on its head, I mean come on Natsu was the face of Fairy Tail he was pretty much our Mascot. Him leaving is going to stir up so many questions and cause so many rumors especially if they only get our side of the story, which I am afraid they will." said Makarov and then took another swig from the bottle.

"Why wouldn't Natsu tell them his side?" asked Macao.

"Most likely because it will still probably hurt, which will mean that he won't want to talk about it. Especially to some nosy reporter, and I can't blame him for that. So then the rumors will start and they will not be favorable, that I know for sure which will probably lead to fewer new members joining, actually you two both know how bad press can really hurt a guild you went through it when we were gone those seven years." said Makarov taking another drink.

"Yea I know what you mean that was hell, we barely made it through." replied Macao shaking his head remembering how hard the press was on them, when it was just a terrible accident. He didn't even want to know what they would do if they figured out that their golden boy is gone.

"What are some of the other things that are going to change?" asked Wakaba.

"Well once all of the other guilds hear about this they are going to try and recruit him, and I really don't blame them either look at what he did at the last Grand Magic Games. I don't even want to know what he would be able to do on someone else's team, it would pretty much guarantee us not getting first this time." said Makarov wondering how he could be so foolish.

"Okay Master I know Natsu is strong and all but, not even he could take on our best five." refuted Wakaba.

"You are correct and wrong on that Wakaba, yes he couldn't take us all on by himself, but he won't be by himself. He would have his own team to help him, but the biggest thing is that he could train them and tell them all that he knows about us everyone's strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, everyone's tendencies in battle. He knows this all, Natsu probably knows more about every member of the guild than they know themselves, it was how he was always able to make this place so lively and bring a smile to everyone's face. It's how he was also able to comfort absolutely anyone in the guild, it is also how he was able to come in at the last second and make sure that someone didn't do something stupid. I mean look at what he did by passing out a few gifts and saying a few parting words. But because of my ignorance he is now gone, and all of that knowledge could be used against us and I am not just talking about the Grand Magic Games here." replied Makarov as he took another big drink.

"What do you mean by that Master?" asked Wakaba.

"He could become targeted by the enemies of Fairy Tail just for the knowledge what he has on us." said Makarov.

"But Natsu would never give out that info to our enemies!" stated Macao.

"Just like he never would leave the guild? Now let me explain, I completely agree that he would never willingly give up that information, there are way too many people here that he cares about to do that, but there are other was to get info from him, much worse ways. Luckily for us, then again it might not be actual luck and Natsu just having a plan in place if he ever left Fairy Tail, but it is too late right now to figure out which one it is. Thanks to how Natsu always acted like an over active child most people wouldn't believe that he knows almost absolutely everything there is to know about us, so they shouldn't target him to try and get us. But he still will be targeted." said Makarov taking another drink from the bottle making it now half full.

"Wait you still think that he will be targeted Master?" asked Macao now slightly concerned for Natsu after hearing all of that.

"Yes for multiple reasons, first reason, Natsu has made quite a few enemies over the years while being a wizard here and plenty of them would like nothing more than to watch him suffer and kill him. And right now is a prime time for that, he is now at his weakest in their eyes because he now has no one watching his back or being there in any other form of support. The other reason that I can think of right now is the fame that a dark mage would get for bringing down the one and only Salamander that alone will cause tons to go after him because like I said right now he is at his weakest. I bet there are plenty of other reasons for them to go after him, and once again this could have all been avoided if I had opened my eyes. But hey these are all just the ramblings of an old man, you never know what will happen, this whole situation is a perfect example of that." said the Master taking another drink.

"Master there is a reporter here and he wants to ask you a few questions, what should I tell him." asked Mira.

"Tell him that I am swamped with paper work and have him come back at a later time." replied Makarov.

"Are you sure that is wise Master, I happened to hear everything you just talked about." asked Mira.

"Yes I am sure, since you already know how much danger Natsu will be in if word of this gets out, also how much it could actually hurt the guild, so we have to wait and hope that Team Natsu can get to him before more people find out, and tell Natsu all of this and the ramifications." said Makarov.

"Okay I will get him to come back later than Master." said Mira as she went to go tell the reporter to come back later, and thought to herself that she definitely needed to talk with Natsu as soon as possible.

"That Wakaba and Macao, is why you never hear of a well know mage leaving his guild and just wandering around. Most mages just transfer to a different guild or become inactive, which we all know Natsu won't do." said Makarov.

"So what I am hearing is that you would actually prefer Natsu to join some other guild rather than being a rouge mage?" asked Wakaba.

"Yes I am Wakaba, because that would make it a lot safer for him. Which is what I am really concerned about right now, because that boy is a magnet for trouble." replied Makarov, thinking to himself, please be safe Natsu.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading! I originally planned to have this chapter show how everyone would react to the news about him no longer being a member of Fairy Tail, but then I kind of got distracted thinking about all the actual disadvantages that he would now have. Of course all of the things that Master Makarov pointed out aren't going to become an everyday thing for Natsu, they are just possibilities of what could happen. So my next chapter will probably be Natsu working something out with Fairy Tail and all of the other guilds that have interacted with Natsu, and how they react to the news.**

 **I also for some reason thought that Wendy would probably come to the realization that her and Natsu were a lot alike in some aspects and to not have the same results happen to her even though she isn't destroying things or sometimes being annoying like him. She decided to change because all she sees now is that the nicest and kindest person she knew, somewhat got pushed away so she isn't going to be like that, she is going to be like the other girls of Fairy Tail strong and opinionated.**

 **Hope you enjoyed reading.**

 **So as always feel free to leave a review.**

 **Until the Next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	17. The Interview

Chapter 17: The Interview

"At least that is what Master Makarov said might happen." said Mira having just finished explaining what Makarov said could happen.

"Damn, I didn't even really think about how this could affect Fairy Tail's reputation." stated Natsu while now trying to think of the best way to fix it?

"Who cares about that, what about all of the danger that you are going to be in Natsu." chastised Mira, thinking once again that Natsu was putting everyone else before himself.

"It's alright Mira, I knew about all of that before I decided to leave Fairy Tail." responded Natsu.

"You did, then why did you leave to be a rogue mage and not join up with a different guild?" asked Mira surprised that Natsu apparently thought this far ahead, which is really far ahead.

"Like I said before it would just feel wrong joining a different guild, and Mira it seems that my life has always been in danger as soon as I entered this world. Also I can't wait for some of those fights, let's see if they can truly handle the Salamander when he doesn't have to be concerned about property damage." said Natsu with a slightly evil laugh at the end.

"Of course that's how you would view this situation, only as another way to improve and fight some strong opponents." replied Mira with a small smile.

"You know me Mira, I always try to look on the bright side of things." said Natsu.

"So I do have a question, was Master correct and that was why you always acted so childish?" asked Mira knowing that he had other reasons to act childish.

"Well it is one of the reasons I guess." replied Natsu not elaborating any further.

"So what are the others Natsu?" asked Mira wanting to know more.

"Okay Mira, you're always so curious, another reason is that it just made life so much fun for me. I mean it was just so great to have fun like that all of the time, and the other reason I kept doing it along with what the Master said, was that you would be surprised at what people will say in front of me thinking I was to childish to know what they are talking about or that I would get distracted and not pay attention. Also this one really surprised me, but for some reason our enemies always seemed to have the need to try and get me to understand what they were going to accomplish, and they did this by telling me everything. So after figuring all of that stuff out I decided to keep it up, I didn't see any downside at the time, but I do now and can honestly say that I would still do it I don't know how many times I was able to get information that saved lives because of it." explained Natsu.

"Wow Natsu I always knew you were smarter than anybody gave you credit, but that was just brilliant." stated Mira.

"I don't know about being brilliant Mira, it kind of caused me to leave the guild and also I am not that smart I just have a very strategic mind thanks to all of Igneel's training." said Natsu.

"Well that makes you smart in my book, so what are you going to do about this situation Natsu?" asked Mira.

"I know for one thing for sure, and that is I am not going to meet up with my old team." replied Natsu, still not wanting to talk with them.

"Oh yea about them, some stuff kind of happened today before Master told me about all of the things he is concerned about happening to you." said Mira not wanting to tell Natsu that they know about his new look and that the guild knows where he was last at.

"Go on Mira, it can't be as bad as you are now thinking it is in your head." said Natsu knowing Mira was not wanting to tell him.

"Well you see Wendy found out what you look like when she was talking with Chelia, and unfortunately she told me that she knew your new look in front of the guild. To make the story shorter some arguing happened and then decided to let the rest of the guild know because they knew that we both were going to know. By the way I like your knew outfit, you look really good in it." said Mira thinking about how handsome he looked while wearing it.

"Okay I don't really care if the guild knows that, it was only a matter of time. So how does this at all deal with my old team?" asked Natsu.

"I will get to that, just let me finish, so people found that outfit you chose hard to believe that you would actually wear it, so they assumed Wendy might have gotten bad information. So the Master tricked Wendy into telling him who told her which Wendy got really upset at and informed Master that he was never going to get anything out of her about you again even in a life or death situation." explained Mira.

"Wow it seems like Wendy is not so shy anymore." replied Natsu, having a fond smile spread across his lips.

"You have no idea, she even tried to get Master to change your old teams name." stated Mira.

"Why would she do that?" asked Natsu.

"Well because they are still going by Team Natsu, which really pissed Wendy off." replied Mira.

"HAHAHA, oh Wendy, she should know that I really don't care about something like that." Natsu said in between laughing at the sight of a little Wendy getting angry at the Master over something so trivial.

"Natsu it isn't funny, she was actually very intimidating, it was like a little version of you in fight mode." said Mira wanting Natsu to know that this is no laughing matter.

"That's even better Mira, it means that she is going to stick up for herself and no longer be that shy girl anymore." responded Natsu being completely serious and no longer laughing.

"Yes, I guess you are right on that. So I will continue with what happened today, Team Natsu came and got to look at your knew outfit and heard what happened at Lamia Scale and decided that they were now going to head there to continue their search, I am so sorry Wendy and I never wanted to let them know where you were at." said a now sad Mira.

"Mira it's fine, and I am no longer there so it doesn't really matter. You and Wendy need to stop being so ruff on yourselves and don't make such a big deal over the little things." replied Natsu.

"You might need to tell that to Wendy." stated Mira.

"And why is that Mira?" asked Natsu.

"So before Team Natsu left to start their search for you Wendy stopped them and told them to stop looking for you. This caused an argument to ensue where Wendy didn't even back down to Erza, she then demanded that they change their team name before they leave, which they didn't want to do which caused Wendy to say some stuff that hurt them, which caused Master to intervene and stopped Wendy saying that they couldn't force them to do that. Her response to that was then no one could force her to ever work with any of them again, this surprised the whole guild. She then explained after she saw what happened to you she wasn't going to let that happen to her and then stormed out." explained Mira.

"Wow, I have only been gone for a week and Wendy has changed that much. I guess I will have to have a talk with her the next time she calls me." stated Natsu, shocked at Wendy's actions and really proud of her standing up for herself.

"That would probably be for the best, it almost sounded like she was going to try and stop being the caring person that she is." Mira informed Natsu.

"Mira that is just crazy, that would be like me not getting into another fight for the rest of my life. It's just who Wendy is, she won't be able to change that, she just is now going to show off her fangs every now and again, which I am glad about, this world is tough." replied Natsu.

"I hope you are right on that Natsu, so back to the original reason why I called you, what are you going to do Natsu?" asked Mira.

"I got a plan, you will probably know about it in a few days." replied Natsu.

"Wait you aren't going to even tell me about it?" asked Mira incredulously.

"Nope, it's going to be a surprise!" said Natsu now having a devious smile.

"Oh come on tell me Natsu." demanded Mira.

"Nope, and talk to you later Mira." said Natsu and ended the call.

"Did he just hang up on me; oh he is so going to pay for that." Mira said out laud.

"Who are you talking to Mira?" asked Kinana coming back into the kitchen.

"Oh no one Kinana, just talking to myself." replied Mira with her usual smile.

 **One Week Later:**

"Dam that was farther away than I thought it was, hopefully Mira and Master Makarov were able to keep the reporters away. Now where the hell is their building in this huge ass town." said Natsu who was back in his old outfit and was now entering the city of Crocus.

"Hello Sir, could you give me directions to the build of Sorcerer's Weekly?" asked Natsu a guard who was on patrol.

"What would be your business with them Sir?" asked the guard.

"Well it just so happens that I have information on an article that they are trying to write." replied Natsu.

"If you want I could escort you there Sir, it is on my patrol." replied the guard.

"Well I am in no rush so why not, and I actually don't even know if they are open yet." said Natsu to the guard with a huge grin.

"Then follow me Sir." said the guard as they continued on, and they started to chat about this and that.

"Do you mind me asking Sir, but who are you, you seem awfully familiar?" asked the guard.

"Don't mind at all I'm Natsu Dragneel." replied Natsu looking at all of the stores that they were passing by.

"You don't mean the Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail, also known as the Salamander." said the guard in complete shock.

"Yep the one and only." replied Natsu looking back at the guard and smiling.

"Oh my god, I can't believe that I am actually getting to meet you again." stated the guard.

"Wait, we've meet before, sorry but I really don't remember your face." said Natsu as he rubbed the back of his head and still smiling at the guard.

"I honestly don't blame you; I was part of a group of guards that were trying to arrest you that night after the Grand Magic Games. I am so sorry about that we were just following orders." said the guard and did a small bow.

"No problem, like you said you were following orders." replied Natsu as if it were nothing.

"But I feel so terrible about it, while we tried to do that to you and some of your friends. You guys right afterwards help stop the dragon invasion and you are the one that actually stopped it all." stated the guard.

"Hey it doesn't matter that was all in the past and everything turned out alright, didn't it?" asked Natsu.

"Yea I guess it did, I just wanted you to know that I was really sorry." replied the guard.

"Apology accepted, even though it wasn't needed, so I have another thing that you could probably help me out on." said Natsu.

"And what would that be Salamander?" asked the guard happy that his apology was accepted.

"Where's a good place to find some books around here?" asked Natsu.

"Well there is the public Library which you should easily be able to find due to the signs directing people there. The next place to find them for purchase is actually three blocks south of Sorcerer's Weekly building." answered the guard.

"Thanks that is very much appreciated." replied Natsu, and then they continued with light conversation.

"Well here it is Salamander, it was a pleasure to talk with you on my patrol." said the guard.

"It was fun Bill, I just might have to join you some other time again." replied Natsu.

"You will always be welcomed Salamander." replied Bill and continued on with his patrol and Natsu entered the building of Sorcerer's Weekly.

"How may I help you Sir?" asked the receptionist as Natsu entered.

"Oh, I just learned that you guys were trying to write a story on me and decided to give an interview so you guys could get my side of it." responded Natsu.

"And who might you be Sir?" asked the receptionist not believing that they were actually writing a story about this man that just waltzed right on in.

"Natsu Dragneel, you might know me by Salamander." replied Natsu now smirking at her.

"Really, sorry Salamander Sir, I didn't actually think that you would be coming in." replied the receptionist apologetically.

"Oh no don't be, I actually just stopped by I don't have any meeting setup or anything. Like I said earlier, I heard that you were trying to write a story about me so I decided to stop by." said Natsu giving one of his award winning smiles.

"Okay Salamander, I will call up and see if anybody can see you." said the receptionist.

"Thanks I will just wait here." replied Natsu as he took on of the seats in the lobby and waited for a few minutes.

"Sorry about the wait Salamander, we just had to setup a few things and it just so happened that the person doing the story just returned from gathering information and wants to do an interview with you. If that is okay Salamander?" said the receptionist to him.

"No problem at all and that is actually why I came here, so who is the one working this story?" asked Natsu as he was lead to the elevator.

"It's Jason, he handles all things related to Fairy Tail, he is just a huge fan of you guys, oh and go up to the fifth floor." replied the woman.

"Crap, he always is screaming COOL, and where are your stairs, I prefer them over elevators?" said Natsu not wanting to put a single foot in that sin against nature in his opinion.

"Right over there Salamander." replied the receptionist as she pointed them out to him.

"Thanks" and with that Natsu headed up to the fifth floor.

"COOOOL" is the first thing Natsu heard as soon as he stepped out of the stairwell.

"I just knew that you wouldn't take the elevator, which is why I waited for you here." said the overly energetic Jason.

"Well, I can only assume that you know why I am here Jason?" asked Natsu seriously.

"Yes, which is why I setup a room for us to conduct this interview where we won't be interrupted." replied Jason as he lead Natsu to said room, where they both sat down in comfy brown leather chairs.

"So I have only one condition for this interview Jason." said Natsu looking at him with a very serious face.

"And what is that Mr. Dragneel?" asked Jason, shocking Natsu how professional he was being compared to his normal self. He then realized that he had never done a real interview with him before and he too, might put on that act so he can possible get more information, but when it gets time for business he is completely serious.

"You can just call me Natsu, and my condition is that you will only print the stuff that I say about Fairy Tail as long as Master Makarov approves of it, everything else is free game, and I don't need to tell you what happens if you don't follow my condition, do I Jason?" replied Natsu now smirking at him.

"No you don't Natsu, so let's get started then shall we?" said Jason not even caring that he was just threatened by the Salamander.

"Let's, so start asking your questions I can only assume you have a lot of them." said Natsu now smiling like normal after he got that part settled.

"Is it true that you have left Fairy Tail?" asked Jason.

"Yes" replied Natsu.

"Would you mind telling me why?" he asked.

"Well in such a big decision like this, there were multiple reasons." answered Natsu.

"Like what exactly?" asked Jason leaning in so he could hear him better.

"One would be that I have been with Fairy Tail my whole life since Igneel left me, and I want to see what life is like outside of being a mage of Fairy Tail." answered Natsu.

"Who is this Igneel person, since the public doesn't know much about you until you joined Fairy Tail and I think that this is actually your first interview every if I am not mistaken?" asked Jason.

"It is Jason, and it is actually because of all those articles written about me destroying stuff when I was younger and I thought you guys only wanted to ask me more about that and then blame me for other things, HAHAHA. But hey I was young then and now I know that isn't what you guys do here, you actually tell the truth which I respect and is why I came to you guys rather than some other paper or magazine. So Igneel …" said Natsu as he then told Jason about his whole past all the way up till he joined Fairy Tail.

"Wow, that alone will make this a best seller." stated Jason after hearing Natsu's past.

"Well then I would suggest you make this a multiple magazine story and like I said since I respect you guys here and this will be the only interview that I do for a long time unless you guys want to talk to me again." replied Natsu with a smile.

"Not a bad idea Natsu, that means that we can advertise this as the first ever interview with you and that it is an exclusive that no one else will have." said Jason thinking about how many different articles he could write about this. Such as the birth of the Salamander which would be about what Natsu just told him, he then could have a story about the rise of the Salamander which would be about his time at Fairy Tail if he could get him talking about that. Then who knows what else he could write about maybe what his plans for the future are.

"Yep, you guys stand to make quite a bit of jewels off of this." replied Natsu.

"Would you mind telling me about your time at Fairy Tail, the more detailed the better?" asked Jason.

"Sure why not, let's make this your best interview ever Jason, so I met Master Makarov…" said Natsu as he told Jason all about his time at Fairy Tail. From first stepping into the guild hall to his very first job, he told him about all of the different fights he got into all the times he was picked on by Mira, how Erza was a strict teacher. He pretty much told him everything that he remembered fondly about being at Fairy Tail, he then went into the bigger missions that started to give him notoriety such as the Lullaby incident all the way to what happened to Tartaros leaving out the part about Igneel dying in front of him. Over all of the stories he did a really good job of sharing the things that made Fairy Tail look good, and didn't embarrass a member other than himself because that was not the purpose of doing this interview.

"Wow once again you amaze me Natsu, it really sounds like Fairy Tail is really special to you and has become your family." replied Jason, glad that he was recoding all of the audio because he just couldn't keep up with Natsu, he just spoke so fast when he was excited.

"Yes it is, and they still are, they will be both of those things to me forever." replied Natsu with a huge smile on his face.

"So that begs me to ask the question, then why are you leaving?" asked Jason.

"Like I said before there are numerous reasons." replied Natsu.

"So what are some of your other reasons for leaving?" asked Jason.

"One of them is that I am searching for someone, and don't want to drag Fairy Tail along with me, it's something that I have to do alone." answered Natsu.

"Would the person that you are looking for happen to be Igneel?" asked Jason.

"No, that search has ended." replied Natsu.

"How so, did you find him?" asked Jason wanting to hear about a touching reunion between father and son.

"Yes but only for a little bit, and then he died right in front of me." said Natsu.

"Oh I am so sorry I didn't know." replied Jason realizing that it wasn't going to be a heartwarming story it was going to be a tragedy.

"It's okay you didn't know, it actually was part of the Tartaros incident, here is the part that I left out…" said Natsu as he now told him about the death of Igneel.

"Like I said before I am so sorry, so it hasn't been all happy memories at Fairy Tail then?" asked Jason.

"Of course it hasn't but for me it's easier to remember all of the good times, unless it was a major event." replied Natsu.

"Like what Natsu, if you don't mind me asking?" said Jason completely absorbed by Natsu's stories.

"Well there are a few that come to mind." said Natsu as he then told how they thought Lisanna had died and then about getting her back. Natsu then pretty much went back through all of the stories that he already told, but this time with what he felt when he kept on almost loosing friends and family, such as when Erza kept on trying to sacrifice herself at the Tower of Heaven or the numerous times he saved Lucy from dying.

"You just keep on surprising me Natsu, especially with how fourth right you have been with me on these stories." said Jason wondering why Natsu was telling him all of this.

"Well like I said I respect what you guys do and have actually read most of your stuff, and I am impressed you tell the story how it is you don't try and make it into something that it is not. You are a great writer that writes so that people can know what is actually happening, and I know that what you write will not distort the truth and you will do all of my stories justice." replied Natsu smiling at him.

"Thanks Natsu that means a lot, so who are you looking for then?" asked Jason.

"Sorry that is going to be one of my secrets, got to still have some mystery around me." said Natsu with a smirk.

"Okay then so do you have more reasons why you decided to leave?" asked Jason.

"Of course I do I just don't know if I should share all of them with you." replied Natsu.

"Okay then, what about the rumor that you were forced to leave?" asked Jason.

"Well that is completely a lie." replied Natsu.

"Okay, what about them doing something that forced you to leave?" asked Jason.

"Once again just a rumor and nothing more, of course there is some relationships that are no longer as good as they use to be, but that is to be expected when something like this happens. Overall though I left on great terms with most of the members and plan on visiting them soon, actually a perfect example of it not being that way is the my old team is still keeping the team name, which was Team Natsu." said Natsu smiling like a loon.

"Well I guess that is good to hear, what about your, always present partner Happy?" asked Jason.

"He's still a member of Fairy Tail, and we will still meet up every now and again. This once again proves that Fairy Tail and I are still on good terms despite what those rumors are going to say." said Natsu.

"You are making that abundantly clear Natsu, so what guild are you planning on joining?" asked Jason.

"I don't plan on joining one." replied Natsu.

"What really, so what do you plan on doing?" asked Jason taken aback by that answer.

"Well I plan on being an independent mage and just travel all over Fiore and maybe into some other countries." answered Natsu as if it was obvious.

"You do know that what you are doing is pretty much unheard of right?" asked Jason.

"Yep and that is part of the fun." replied Natsu with his normal smile.

"So why are you choosing to be an independent mage now?" asked Jason not knowing why Natsu was doing this.

"Well like I said earlier I am searching for someone, and while I do that I plan on doing some intense training." responded Natsu.

"But you could do both of those while still being a part of a guild?" questioned Jason.

"Yes I could, but then I would have to be concerned about what I destroy while doing those two things. But now that I am independent mage all of the blame falls solely on me and not any guild that I would be affiliated with." replied Natsu.

"Yea but Fairy Tail and all other guilds know about your destructive tendencies, and probably wouldn't care." stated Jason.

"Well Jason all of those times I have been holding back a lot, now I really want to cut loose and see what I can do." replied Natsu.

"Are you saying that all of those times before when you destroyed stuff you were, actually holding back and trying to not destroy stuff?" asked Jason hoping that Natsu was joking.

"Yep, but now the holding back is gone, I will be giving it everything I have, while still trying to not destroy stuff of course." said Natsu as he started to rub the back of his head.

"I would hope so otherwise the Council would be after you." said Jason.

"Why would they do that, I will still pay for anything that I break." retorted Natsu.

"So as you said you don't plan on joining a guild, what are you going to do when they of course try and recruit you before the upcoming Grand Magic Games?" asked Jason.

"Well first I will see what they have to say, and then make my decision afterwards. Just because I said I don't plan on joining a guild doesn't mean that it'll never happen." answered Natsu.

"So you're saying that there is still a chance that you will compete in the Grand Magic Games that are in about nine months?" asked Jason.

"Yeah there is definitely a possibility, I mean they were just so much fun last time." replied Natsu.

"Well who do you think we will most likely see you being with if you do happen to participate?" asked Jason.

"Well of course the smart money would be on Fairy Tail, but that doesn't mean there is no chance that I couldn't join a different guild like Sabretooth or any of the others." replied Natsu.

"Even Mermaid Heel?" asked Jason with a huge grin.

"If I would be so lucky and privileged as to be offered a place in an all-female guild, first I would feel incredibly honored. Then I would have to except I would be a fool not too, also not to mention I have a feeling if I turned that down I would become the most despised man in Earth Land." said Natsu while chuckling at the end.

"Smart answer there Natsu, so do you have any plans for the future while being an independent mage?" asked Jason.

"I have a few things up my sleeves, like something that will be happening in the next three and a half months. I do plan on visiting all of my friends sooner or later at other guilds though, if that was what you were after?" replied Natsu.

"It wasn't really but still interesting, what I am interested in is this thing that you mentioned in three and a half months and what else you have up your sleeves, which I know is going to be something good." said Jason.

"HAHAHA, sorry but like I said before I still need some secrets." Natsu chuckled.

"Okay well I have a few more questions for you, the first one is what did you do to your hair?" asked Jason finally having enough and just had to ask.

"What do you think, I just randomly decided that I needed a new look and this kind of happened." answered Natsu.

"I think it looks great, so this new look does it also include this new outfit that you were seen wearing on your visit with Lamia Scale?" asked Jason.

"Dam you are good Jason, I didn't know if there would be pictures of me in it so I decided to wear my old outfit. But yes it does, it also has something to do with that thing that I mentioned will be happening at least within the next three and a half months." said Natsu with a smirk.

"Do you care to elaborate more on that Natsu?" asked Jason latching on to that little hint that Natsu gave him.

"Nope, I have already said too much on it as it is." replied Natsu.

"Okay, so why did you pick that outfit, because if you don't mind we would like to show it in the magazine?" asked Jason.

"Well I don't really care, but you will need to get permission from Mr. Matsumoto owner of the Lone Tailor in Hargeon, he was the person that made those for me, if you want to show them. But for as to why I picked them, I did that because they looked great and it is something that I usually wouldn't wear, trying to somewhat make a new image of me." replied Natsu.

"Well this new outfit will definitely help with that. So my next question deals with another photo that we got, it shows you with black flames, would you care to elaborate on that?" asked Jason.

"Nope another secret, but if you get the okay to show the new outfit feel free to show any with me and my new black flames." replied Natsu with a really smug smile on his face.

"Okay Natsu I think I really have only one more question as of right now, and it deals with a rumor of you beating Jura Neekis when you went to Lamia Scale, is it true?" asked Jason.

"Yes it is true, but I also feel the need to say that I did get in a lucky shot, and that the next time that we fight will be one of legends. And if you want more info on the one than I have already given you, you're going to have to talk with Jura." replied Natsu.

"Well I think that I have enough things here that I could fill up our whole magazine for a complete month with nothing but info on you Natsu." stated Jason as he got up and stretched.

"Glad to hear, but I am assuming that some of your readers wouldn't like that." replied Natsu as he too got up and stretched.

"You got that right, which is why we will probably stretch it out for like three months." explained Jason.

"Hey you know best, you do work here." said Natsu.

"Well Natsu it was a pleasure to do this interview with you." said Jason as he shook his hand.

"No the pleasure was all mine, I am just glad I got to tell it to a journalist like you before all of the rumors started." said Natsu.

"That was really smart of you to get ahead of this before the rumors started, you must really still care about Fairy Tail." stated Jason as he started to walk Natsu out.

"That I do Jason." was Natsu's simple reply.

"So how do I get into contact with you if I have more questions?" asked Jason.

"Just go to Fairy Tail and talk to Mira and then she will get into contact with me." replied Natsu as they were now at the front door.

"Will do Natsu and once again it was an honor working with you." said Jason.

"It was for me as well Jason, so see you later." said Natsu as he headed out the door.

"Well time to go get some books, man if anyone from Fairy Tail heard me saying that they would have assumed that I have gone crazy." said Natsu as he headed towards the book store distract.

"Maybe I should head to the library first so I don't pay for a book that I could look at for free. Yeah that's the smart thing to do here, and man is this going to take forever." Natsu said to himself as he now started to follow the signs to the library.

 **Two Days Later at Fairy Tail:**

Team Natsu just got back the day before and weren't happy because their visit to Lamia Scale was not as productive as they hoped. First of there was barely any one there, it was just their Master, Jura, Lyon, and Chelia, and none of them were very helpful and Chelia acted like they weren't even there. Which didn't surprise them considering how close she and Wendy are, Master Ooba was too busy with paper work considering that all of her guild was working their asses off, which Team Natsu couldn't figure out why. Jura wasn't much help either, he told them about his fight and conversations he had with Natsu and how he was ever so slightly off, once done with that he somewhat went off on Erza and Master Makarov for not promoting Natsu to S-Class. Lyon was surprising the most helpful because he told them that last known information on Natsu was him being seen going into the mountain range west of them and battled some sort of monster, he also begged them to make sure that they take Natsu back to Fairy Tail.

Once they got to the mountain range it was easy to find were Natsu had been, all they had to do was follow the path of destruction. It went on for a few miles and once they got to the end of it they were shocked, right there in front of them was a dead Salamander which is what inspired Natsu's nickname. Due to the fact that they had so many things in common, both could eat and breathe fire, both tough as nails, and finally both of them could light their appendages on fire. It should also be made known that the extermination of one of these creatures when they are small is an S-Class job, and this one was definitely not small. After finding the dead Salamander, they continued to the surrounding villages and found absolutely nothing on where he might have gone, they did learn that there was a quest just posted for the extermination of the Salamander, but apparently Natsu didn't know about it or didn't want the reward. So they told the village that the job was done and that they could keep their jewels since they didn't do anything.

So that is what brought them back to the guild, where Grey promptly asked Juvia out on a date and told her that he wanted to take it slow, but did invite her to join their team, which Juvia accepted right away. Which brings us to right now and it is a normal day in Fairy Tail, well I guess not their old normal but their new normal since Natsu left, everyone pretty much does the same things it is just that everyone seems to be quieter now. Guild fights occasionally break out but are really mild compared to what they were before.

"Sure is a lot quieter here now, isn't it Master?" asked Mira.

"Yes it is Mira, it really shows how much one person can affect another's life, and also how many as well." replied Master Makarov as he scanned the guild.

"Yea, Natsu was one of a kind." stated Mira only to get a grunt of agreement from Makarov.

"I see that Wendy and Romeo barely show up at the guild anymore, is Wendy really that made at me and Team Natsu?" asked Makarov.

"Yes she is still mad at you guys and will probably be that way for a long time, but that isn't the reason for her being gone so long." stated Mira.

"Then way is she barely here anymore?" asked Master Makarov.

"Her and Romeo are apparently becoming a team and are doing some intense training with Happy and Carla as well." replied Mira smiling at Master.

"That's good to hear, now if only Team Natsu could find him so that they could apologize to him." said Master Makarov as he looked at the table that held said team.

"Don't worry Master; they are just a little down because they didn't find any clue after finding out that Natsu killed the Salamander that was in those mountains. They will be good as new tomorrow." stated Mira still smiling.

"Gii hii, who would have thought that The Salamander would actually kill a Salamander, it's just too funny." said Gajeel as he was at the bar with Levy sitting right next to him reading one of the books that Natsu left her.

"I don't see how that is funny Gajeel? If I am not mistaken that Salamander would probably have been a double S-Class mission which usually takes at least a full year if not more and Natsu did it in a few days and then just left without the reward." said Cana who was also at the bar because Wakaba and Macao where not at the guild.

"I wasn't finding what he accomplished funny it was that he defeated what he was nicknamed after, which means at least for me that he is the one and only Salamander now." replied Gajeel.

"Okay I guess, I can see how that would amuse you." said Cana.

"I wonder when we will hear about the next thing that Salamander does?" asked Gajeel.

"I thought that you didn't care about Natsu?" asked Cana knowing that this will instantly rile up Gajeel.

"I don't it's just that Salamander was one of the few people here that was fun to fight." replied Gajeel as he turned away from Cana.

"Oh is big bad Gajeel missing his little dragon buddy?" asked Cana.

"Quiet booze floozy." growled Gajeel.

"Hey that was uncalled for, I didn't know that Natsu was going to be such a touchy issue." responded Cana.

"It isn't." replied Gajeel.

"Oh my god I finally found it!" shouted Levy excitedly.

"What did you find shrimp?" asked Gajeel.

"Yea Levy, what got you so excited?" asked Cana.

"Well you know how all of Natsu's letters and chests had that weird seal on them?" asked Levy.

"Yep." replied Gajeel.

"I did notice it on the letter to Gildarts, was it really on all of them?" asked Cana.

"It was, Gajeel passed them all out, and well I now know what the seal stands for. It is the royal seal for the Fire Dragon Kingdom and is said that only those of the royal house can use it, it also says that those from that house are unrivaled in fire magic which is why they have always held the throne." explained Levy still very excited.

"So what shrimp?" asked Gajeel.

"So what? Do you not know what this means? It means that while Natsu was with us he was an actual prince, and now that Igneel is dead, it means that he is the new Fire King." stated Levy exasperated that she had to explain it this far.

"Wow so Natsu is an actual King, does he now have a kingdom to run and a castle?" asked Cana.

"He does somewhat to both of your questions Cana, but no at the same time. He now rules over all of the fire creatures on Earth Land, unless he gets over thrown, which he kind of is right now." replied Levy.

"How so?" asked Mira who was listening to this whole conversation.

"Well ever since Acnologia appeared a lot of the old customs and rules were destroyed, which is also what most likely happened to the castle that Natsu now owns on the top of a volcano on Fire Island." answered Levy.

"I still don't see why you are excited about, all of this, Shrimp?" asked Gajeel.

"Well because it also says that whoever was a member of that house were able to do things with their fire that no one else could dream of." replied Levy.

"Like what?" asked Mira.

"Unfortunately this book doesn't go in to detail, but it said that it was things that shouldn't have been possible. But now that I know what I am looking for I should be able to find out more." said Levy.

"But wait, since Natsu wasn't Igneel's actual son, does he actual have the possibility to use these flames or weird powers?" asked Cana, while pointing out something that could make it all pointless.

"I believe that he does, because apparently a different human was part of the house at one time long ago. Also because Igneel gave Natsu his magic and considering that dragon slayers have a lot of the aspects of dragons it wouldn't be that farfetched to think that Igneel's actual blood is in Natsu." replied Levy.

"Are you saying that I might have Metalicana's blood in me as well?" asked Gajeel.

"You could, because none of us know how a first generation dragon slayer becomes one, except for the fact that you were trained by dragons." stated Levy.

"Wow so Natsu is a King, which kind of makes him even sexier." said Cana.

"Really Cana?" asked Mira, doing a great job hiding the fact that she was mad that Cana is looking at Natsu that way now.

"Oh come on Mira, did you see that picture of him, he looks sexy and we all know that he is ripped under that. And actually even if you look past his looks, Natsu was a really great guy, always there for you when you needed him, he would do anything to make sure that you were happy." said Cana.

"Well I guess that I will have to agree with you on all of that." replied Mira with a slight blush.

"Dam, they're right when they say you only realize how great something is when it's gone." said Cana with a frown.

"You got that right Cana." agreed Mira as she too had a small frown.

"Master Makarov?" asked a person at the door.

"Yes who's there and how may I help you?" asked Master Makarov.

"It's me Jason, and I need to ask you something?" said Jason.

"I already said that I don't want to talk to you." replied Makarov a little angry at how persistent this man could be.

"Even if I were to tell you that I just did an interview with Natsu Dragneel?" asked Jason.

"What?" shouted the whole guild.

"Yea I was just as shocked as you all are, he just shows up out of nowhere and does a very in-depth interview with me. He also made me agree to get your permission on anything that pertains to Fairy Tail which happens to be a good chunk of it. So I came here to get the okay to use it, if not I will just use the other stuff that he provided me." said Jason still standing in the door.

"Why would Natsu do that, I thought he hated reporters?" asked Warren.

"Well the simplest reason that I could tell you why he did this was because he still cares about the guild and everyone in it." replied Jason.

"So what did you bring for me to approve?" asked Master Makarov.

"Well I haven't written the article yet because I had to get the approval from someone to show the pictures of Natsu in his new outfit. So I brought a recording of our interview that I could play for you and then you can tell me witch parts you don't want used and then they won't be, you have my word." said Jason.

"Would you mind playing it for the whole guild, since it concerns them too?" asked Master Makarov.

"No problem at all, I was actually going to suggest that, because you have to hear how he talks about all of you. Oh and just a warning this interview lasted for six hours." stated Jason as he started to get ready.

"Six hours?" once again the whole guild asked not believing that Natsu could sit and do an interview for that long.

"Do you happen to have the pictures that you got the approval to feature alongside of this article?" asked Mira.

"Yes I do Mira, I assume you want to see them, and it isn't just one article Mira it is probably going to be an article on this interview once a week for the next three months, as long as you guys agree to it." said Jason as he passed Mira the stack of photos.

"A whole three months?" asked Master Makarov.

"Yep, we know that this will become one of our best sellers, the one and only exclusive interview with the Salamander, where he tells all about his life before Fairy Tail, while at Fairy Tail. And his side of all of the major events that he has been a part of, we won't be able to keep them on the shelves." stated Jason.

"He actually told you all of that?" asked Master Makarov.

"He sure did and he also told me that I was going to be the only person to get an interview like this." replied Jason with pride.

"Once again why did he do this?" asked Master Makarov.

"Well I am pretty sure that he wanted to make sure that the public doesn't change its opinion about Fairy Tail, and stop all negative rumors before they start. Which I think that he did quite well with this interview, it really makes you want to join Fairy Tail so that you might have a fraction of the experiences that Natsu had here, he is actually really good with his words." explained Jason.

"Hey Mira why don't you put those pictures on the lacrima projector so we can all look at them as well." said Cana, getting a whole lot of the guild to agree with her.

"Fine just give me a second." replied Mira as she then set out to do that.

"There you go guys, I will flip to the next picture after a minute if that is okay with you guys?" asked Mira getting no complaints.

"Well I just got my part set up, and will start the voice recording as well." said Jason as he started it, and then started to work on his article in hope that he would get to use it all.

 **Six hours later:**

The whole guild had just lived the life of Natsu Dragneel, and it was a rollercoaster ride of emotions but the one that stuck out the most was sheer happiness. During the interview some members were brought to tears from laughing at old memories and also seeing them through Natsu's eyes made them that much funnier. At other parts they cried at what he went through and what he was willing to do in order to make sure that his friends and family were going to be all right. They were all very surprised to hear Natsu over and over defend the guild and explain why he left with a very positive spin on it, while also making it seem like that was definitely the main reasons he left.

They were also surprised by some of the things that he purposely kept secret and actually hinted at one of them, and that he wouldn't go into details about his new black flames or his fight with Jura. They also were extremely glad when he said that if he did compete in the games that it would most likely be with them, they also were surprised to hear that he did plan on visiting and was somewhat happy that his old team kept their name. Over all they were just so surprised that he gave such a great interview that was so personal, just to make sure that Fairy Tail wouldn't be hurt by his departure, if anything they might get an increase in new members after this was all said and done.

"So what did you guys think?" asked Jason.

"That was great." stated Max.

"It was so Manly!" shouted Elfman.

"It was beautiful." said Lucy wiping away a stray tear.

"Who knew he could be so good with his words." stated Grey.

"It was Natsu's good bye to Fairy Tail." said Mira who also had to wipe away a few tears.

"But not forever." said Lisanna to complete what Mira wanted to say.

"It truly was amazing, I see no reason you can't use all of this, unless someone disagrees?" said Makarov as he too had to wipe away a tear. The guild remained completely silent, meaning that no one objected to it.

"Well alright, thank you guys, the first one will be out after the upcoming issue. So I have a lot of work to get to so see you all later." said Jason as he grabbed all of his things and left.

"Why did he do that Master?" asked Erza.

"Well because he didn't want to hurt Fairy Tail's reputation, and I also feel this is his way of saying that he will always be one of us even if he isn't here anymore." replied Master Makarov.

"Okay but how did he know that this could turn out really bad, when looked at by the public. That was something that didn't even cross my mind, this whole time." said Erza.

"That I don't know Erza, probably the same way he always does when he comes to save us when we really need him the most." said Master Makarov with pride in what Natsu just did for the guild.

"Well said Master." said Mira smiling at him.

"So in honor of Natsu and his continued service for the Fairy Tail let's party like he was still here, like he would want us to, so that if anybody comes to visit Fairy Tail it will be like Natsu described and hopefully he too will come back to what he always loved about Fairy Tail!" shouted Makarov to his guild, which was replied with a cheer of approval. That night was the start of Fairy Tail going back to what it used to be, the rowdiest guild in Fiore who is still known for its destruction even though its main culprit is no longer one of them.

"That was a really good plan Natsu; I can't wait to see what comes from all of this." Mira thought as she watched the guild party hard enough to make up for their old member.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Note:**

 **Thanks for reading, I hope you guys enjoyed it and I promise that the next chapter is going to be about the other guilds reaction to this news. So as always feel free to leave a review.**

 **Until the next chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	18. The Progression of Time

Chapter 18: The Progression of Time

"Well that should be that last of supplies that I will need for quite some time, I really can't believe how many books that I found that actually interested me." Natsu thought as he put away the items that he just bought with his re-equip. Natsu then put on his hat and exited the store and headed into the streets of Crocus and started to head to the north exit of the city.

"I can't believe that it has already been a full month since I left Fairy Tail." thought Natsu as he walked through the fairly empty streets of Crocus at early morning hours. He watched as people were opening up their shops and getting ready to start selling their wares, until something caught eye his at a magazine kiosk. The man running the kiosk was putting out the newest Sorcerer's Weekly and right there on the front cover was a picture of himself in his new outfit while also being in his new mode. The title was "Natsu Dragneel, a Fairy No More!", it also said that inside was an exclusive first time interview with the Salamander, it also advertised that this was the first of a three month coverage on the already well known mage, where he tells it all past, present and future.

"Well that is a pretty interesting title; I can't wait to see what this brings my way." Natsu thought to himself as he continued on with a small chuckle. "Now let's see if there were any truths about those dragon sightings." as he looked at the distant mountains directly north of Crocus.

 **At Lamia Scale:**

The guild was still surprisingly empty, only having about ten members in it at the time going about their business as usual. That is until Toby burst in panting as if he had just ran ten miles, instantly getting the attention of the members that were still there.

"What's the matter Toby?" asked Chelia concerned at what could possibly cause him to run he so fast that he would be out of breath.

"You have to see this!" said Toby between gasps for air as he held up a rolled up magazine.

"What is it Toby, we can't see what it is?" replied Lyon who was not amused.

"Oh sorry about that." said Toby as he then unrolled the magazine and showed the cover to them.

"Shit there goes our advantage." said a random member.

"I can't believe that he actually did an interview." stated Lyon.

"That is a really good cover, Natsu looks incredibly handsome while also looking dangerous." commented Sherry.

"Can I see that." said Chelia as she took it out of Toby's hands before he could even respond, and quickly started to read it.

"Sure Chelia, go right ahead why don't you." said Toby angry that she just took it from him. The few members huddled around her so that they could start reading with her as well, after a few minutes they were all done reading and were surprised at what Natsu said and what was apparently to come in later articles.

"I honestly don't know what to say after reading that." said a random member.

"Well, on the bright side he did say that he is still somewhat open to joining a new guild." replied Sherry.

"Yeah you got a point Sherry, we still can get him to join Lamia Scale." shouted out another member happily.

"Do you guys really think that those are the reasons that he actually left Fairy Tail?" asked Lyon.

"They sound like perfectly valid reasons to me, and he also denied most of the reasons that we came up with, so what else could there be?" stated Sherry.

"I don't doubt that those were some of his reasons, it just feels like he left something out." replied Lyon.

"Of course there is something more, but he obviously still cares about Fairy Tail and doesn't want his actions to hurt them." said Chelia in an irritated tone.

"That is just like him, isn't it, always thinking of others." said Sherry with a fond smile.

"He is something else." replied Lyon with a smirk.

"What I want to know is who is he searching for if it isn't his father Igneel, and also what happened to Igneel?" asked Toby.

"Well it sounds like you will have to talk to Natsu for your first question Toby and as for the other one just wait until it is explained in one of the upcoming magazines." said a member.

"That was a really good way to keep people interested." replied a different guild member.

"I am also curious to what's happening in two and a half months dealing with Natsu and his new look?" asked Sherry.

"No idea, and really don't care." replied Lyon.

"Why didn't he explain his new mode, like he did to Jura though?" asked Toby.

"That's simple, he doesn't want his enemies to know about something like that." replied Lyon.

"I guess it makes sense." said Toby nodding his head in approval.

"Does anyone here know about Natsu's time before Fairy Tail?" asked Chelia looking around the room.

"Nope." replied the other assembled members except for one.

"I don't know much expect for Igneel found him at a young age and then raised him like his own son." replied Lyon.

"And how did you learn of this?" asked Sherry giving Lyon and accusing glare.

"It came up one time when I was talking with Grey, I actually don't remember how it did though." replied Lyon as he scratched the side of his head.

"Well I can't wait until those articles are published." said Chelia.

"What I really can't wait for is some of his more recent adventures, where we can finally hear what actually happened." said another guild member.

"Well it sounds like all of Fiore will soon know a lot more about Natsu Dragneel soon." said Lyon as he got up and headed to the request board.

"Yea I can't wait." said Chelia with a small smile as she looked at the image of Natsu on the cover.

 **At Fairy Tail:**

"You guys are never going to believe this!" shouted Romeo as he and Wendy ran into the guild each holding a copy of Sorcerer's Weekly.

"Why hello Romeo and Wendy, we don't see you two around that often." replied Mira with her usual smile.

"We have been training a lot, but that doesn't really matter, check this out." said Romeo as he held out the magazine.

"Oh so they finally published it, how nice." replied Mira as she went back to serving members.

"Wait, you already knew about this?" asked Wendy.

"Yes we did Wendy, actually most of the guild knows, Jason came by and got permission from us before he published it." replied Master Makarov.

"And you didn't tell us!" asked Wendy in a loud voice.

"Sorry Wendy, we thought that most of the guild members were there when Jason played the recording of the interview." said Master Makarov.

"Wait, so you guys know what is going to be in all of the upcoming articles?" asked Wendy not liking that she was out of the loop.

"We know at least what the basic components will be of the articles." answered Master Makarov.

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Romeo also not a fan of not being in the know.

"Well because you two are rarely here anymore." said Master Makarov.

"That doesn't mean you couldn't have told us when we did drop by." stated Wendy angrily.

"Settle down there Wendy, we didn't know about this either." said Laxus as he entered the guild followed by the Thunder Legion, who all had a copy of the magazine.

"We also didn't know about it Wendy." said Alzack with Asuka in his arms and Bisca standing right beside him.

"It was an honest mistake Wendy." said Bisca giving a small smile to Wendy which calmed her down a bit.

"Also I am glad to hear that you are training more Wendy, Natsu would be proud of you." said Laxus as he rubbed her head.

"Do you really think he would?" asked Wendy looking up at him.

"Of course he would, you are now just like he was when he was your age. All worked up and trying to get stronger to protect the ones that he cared about, you also are now not taking any shit from anyone if the rumors I have heard are to be believed." said Laxus giving her a huge smile.

"Thanks Laxus that means a lot coming from you." said Wendy as she hugged him at the waist, causing a few members to simile seeing that the kind and loving Wendy is still there.

"No problem pip squeak." replied Laxus with a smirk.

"Hey I am not a pip squeak, I am a proud dragon." said Wendy as she broke away from the hug and glared up at him.

"I know you are Wendy, you would have never done what you just did before. So why don't we go find a table and go read this article about Natsu." said Laxus giving her a pat on the head.

"Sure." replied Wendy with a proud smile on her face.

"Hey I want to read about Uncle Natsu too." complained Asuka.

"We can Asuka, we just have to go grab one for ourselves." said Alzack to his daughter.

"Oh yea, I almost forgot, here take one of these." said Laxus a he dropped as stack of the magazines on the table.

"Thanks Laxus." replied Bisca as she grabbed one that she could read with her family.

"It was no problem at all, no sense in have someone else waste money if they could just use my extra's." said Laxus as he sat down at a table that Wendy, Romeo, and the Thunder Legion were sitting at.

"Why did you have so many copies?" asked Lisanna.

"Well because I didn't know that everyone already knew about this, and got some extra copies for people to read, so feel free to read them everyone." said Laxus as he then went back to reading. Some curious members and ones who were also gone during the playing of the interview decided to take him up on that offer and started to grab a copy so that they could read.

"So what's happening in a few months?" asked Evergreen.

"I have no idea, but am excited to see what it is, and knowing Natsu it could literally be anything." replied Freed.

"I don't think anybody here knows what it will be." replied Master Makarov.

"That outfit does look good, and who would have thought that he could beat Jura." said Bixlow.

"I for one would have guessed that he could have done it, even if he didn't get that lucky punch in. Also what is with the black flames, I have never seen him use those before?" stated Laxus.

"I will have to agree with you on that Laxus, and as for those flames I have only seen him use them twice. The first time was when he saved my life from that Fire God Slayer, and the second time was just like in the picture, when he battled Gildarts at the exams." replied Master Makarov.

"How strong are they?" asked Macao.

"Well strong enough were I had to stop the battle between him and Gildarts afraid that they would destroy the whole island." answered Master Makarov shocking the guild that they were that strong.

"Natsu was lying about holding back right, he just put that in there as a joke?" asked Freed looking to Laxus for an answer.

"That I don't know Freed." said Laxus wondering if it was actually a joke.

"It wasn't a joke Freed; ever since Natsu joined he has been constantly holding back his flames in fear of hurting his friends and family. He also holds back in his real fights because he doesn't want to kill, but it now sounds like he might be ready to see what they really are capable of." said Master Makarov remembering the first time seeing the raw power behind Natsu's Flames.

"Are you sure about this Master?" asked Levy.

"Yes I am Levy." replied Master Makarov.

"Then that proves it, I knew I was right Gajeel." said Levy excitedly.

"Proves what Levy my dear?" asked Master Makarov confused what Levy was going on about.

"That Natsu is the Fire King." said Levy with a huge smile.

"The what king?" asked Bixlow not believing that the word king and Natsu should ever be that close to one another.

"The Fire King, from what Master just said about his fire and also that he can use lightning and god's fire, combine that with the seal that was on everyone's letters, means that Natsu is the Fire King." explained Levy.

"How so?" inquired Evergreen her interest peaked just by the mention of royalty, since she sees herself as the queen of Fairy Tail.

"Oh sorry that was a terrible explanation. Okay well I was looking up that seal and found out that it belongs to the royal house that has ruled the Fire Kingdom, which just means they are in charge of all things that pretty much use fire and don't actually have a territory. It also said that those of that house could do unimaginable things with their fire, and as I just pointed out Natsu seems to be able to do just that." Levy elaborated.

"So you're saying that we have had royalty in Fairy Tail this whole time until just recently?" asked Evergeen not wanting it to be true that Natsu was in fact a king now.

"Yes we have." replied Levy with a huge smile.

"He's still going to be the same old Salamander to me." stated Gajeel.

"Gajeel's right, Natsu probably didn't tell us about this afraid that we might treat him differently, so I too will won't let this new information change how I see him." stated Lisanna.

"Well said little Sis." replied Mira with a huge smile.

"You guys are right, so let's treat him like we normally would when he comes back!" shouted a drunken Cana, which got approval from the whole guild.

"I actually have another question though, does anybody have any idea who he is looking for?" asked Romeo, getting no response from any member, and then the guild looked at two people for an answer, Wendy and Mira.

"Don't look at me, after what happened to Igneel I didn't know that he was looking for anyone else." replied Mira, which made all heads turn to look at Wendy.

"There is no way in hell that I am ever telling any of you guys anything about Natsu, even if I did know who he was looking for, which I don't." said Wendy angrily towards her guild mates thinking that it might be Acnologia but hoping that she was wrong.

"Do you think it could be his birth parents?" asked Freed coming up with a pretty good guess.

"If it was them, then why would he care about dragging us into it?" asked Levy.

"I don't know maybe they are bad people, I mean they did abandon him." refuted Freed.

"I guess you could be right, we will probably have to wait until we see him again." replied Levy.

"Mommy when are we going to see Uncle Natsu again?" asked Asuka.

"I don't know honey." replied Bisca.

"But I still haven't got to thank him for his present, and I really miss him." said Asuka starting to tear up.

"It's okay, honey it sounded like he really wanted to make it back for your birthday." said Bisca trying to get her daughter to not cry.

"But that is still in like forever." complained Asuka.

"I know, but like we said before, he might come and visit before that." said Bisca.

"I really hope he does." replied Asuka looking at the guild doors hoping that he would kick them open like he used to.

 **At Blue Pegasus:**

"Did you guys hear the big news?" asked Jenny as she entered the guild.

"Who hasn't, it is all anyone is talking about." stated Ren.

"I still find it hard to believe, it seems like it is some sort of joke." said Eve while shaking his head.

"I would agree with you on that one if it wasn't in Sorcerer's Weekly." replied Hibiki.

"It was quite fortunate that they got that exclusive interview with him, they won't be able to keep their magazines on the shelves if they actually have what they claim to." said Ren.

"You don't think that they do?" asked Jenny.

"No I don't, it just seems weird that the Salamander decides to tell his whole life story when he leaves Fairy Tail." replied Ren.

"And why is that weird?" asked Jenny not seeing anything wrong with Natsu getting a whole lot of publicity.

"Well considering that he has never done an interview before this in his entire life, for one. And also that we actually don't really know much about him except for what they wrote before, which was more a list of things that he destroyed and nothing else." explained Ren.

"He's right Jenny, using Archive I wasn't able to find out anything about his time before Fairy Tail or much information on him even with some of his well-known quests. So I too have to agree with Ren, something is very odd about this." said Hibiki.

"Whatever you two, I'm excited to learn more about Natsu. Also who knew that he would look so good in that outfit, he should have been modeling with Mira this whole time. Actually now that I am looking at it he would fit right in at Blue Pegasus now, he could even join your little group." said Jenny laughing at the end.

"This isn't a laughing matter Jenny." stated Eve.

"And why not, are you concerned that he will be the guy known for looks, and you three will become nobodies?" asked Jenny with a smirk.

"No, that has nothing to do with this." stammered out Eve, looking like he was actually concerned that it might happen.

"Eve's correct, what we need to be concerned about what guild he join's." stated Ren.

"But the article says that he doesn't plan on joining a guild." refuted Jenny.

"That it does, but it also says that it wasn't impossible, and whatever guild he does join has a really good chance of taking first place at the Grand Magic Games this year." said Hibiki.

"Hibiki is right Jenny, which is why Master has instructed me and the Trimens to go and try to convince him to join Blue Pegasus." said Ichiya while doing one of his weird poses.

"Yes Master" replied the Trimens.

"We're actually trying to get Natsu to join us?" asked Jenny slightly taken aback by this.

"Yes Jenny my dear." replied Master Bob.

"You know I was joking about him fitting right in, if he joined right?" asked Jenny.

"Yes I know that you were joking, but you were still correct." said Master Bob as he took a seat.

"How, we all know how he is, always making a mess and acting like a kid." argued Jenny.

"Yes that was the old Natsu who was part of Fairy Tail, but this one is different and we won't really know what he is like until we see for ourselves." said Master Bob.

"Okay I guess you are right, but what makes you think he would choose us over Fairy Tail again?" asked Jenny.

"This is just a guess, but I believe that Natsu is looking for his own path right now, just like I did when I left Fairy Tail. And for all we know that path of his could lead him here, but we won't know that unless we try and bring him here." responded Master Bob.

"I completely forgot that you used to be a Fairy Tail member." stated Jenny.

"Yes I did darling, but that was way before your time." replied Master Bob.

"I am still surprised that Fairy Tail let someone that important leave." said Jenny.

"Master Makarov, would never force someone to stay at his guild, he knows the importance of someone following their own path. But you are right it is surprising that Maky let such a valuable mage slip through his fingers, which is why we are going to try and get him." said Master Bob.

"Well that means that you guys… Wait where did they go?" asked Jenny looking at the place that used to be occupied by Ichiya and the trimens.

"Darling they left as soon as you and I, started this conversation." Master Bob informed Jenny while giving her a smile.

"Oh I didn't even notice, so what do you want me to do than Master Bob." asked Jenny.

"Nothing special dear, except for if you see him be sure to bring him back with you." replied Master Bob while giving her a wink.

"Will do Master, maybe I could try and get him to model with me. I do have some pull at Sorcerer's Weekly and I am sure that they would be excited to have photos of us together." said Jenny now thinking out loud.

"That would be a splendid idea honey." replied Master Bob.

"Also since things didn't work out with Hibiki and me, Natsu and I could start a relationship that would be on the front covers of all the magazines, we would be known as the new power couple of Fiore. Not only that he is really handsome and strong as well, not to mention that this would be the ultimate way to show Mira that I am better than her." said Jenny with an evil smile as she walked out of the guild still talking to herself about future plans.

"Oh no, what have I done. Well Maky I hope Natsu can handle all that will be coming at him because of this." said Master Bob, as he then smiled at memories of when he too left Fairy Tail

 **At Mermaid Heel:**

"Kagura did you read the part that he would join our guild if we asked him?" asked Millianna.

"Yes I did Millianna, what of it?" stated Kagura.

"Well, wouldn't that be great to have him on our team for the Grand Magic Games this year?" replied Millianna.

"Millianna, Natsu probably only said that as a joke, knowing that we are a women's only guild." said Kagura, thinking how much of an asset he would be if they had him for the Grand Magic Games.

"Well that isn't something to joke about, and I don't think Natsu is!" huffed out Millianna clearly upset at what was just said.

"You're right Millianna, Natsu is a man that sticks to his word. But this whole discussion is pointless since we are in a women's only guild." stated Kagura.

"Yeah but what if we weren't Kagura?" asked Millianna excited that Kagura agreed with her about Natsu.

"We would then have to find Natsu before anyone else and get him to join us, and then easily win the Grand Magic Games this year." said Kagura with a faint smile thinking about that situation and how they would get the recognition that they deserve.

"Why don't we go and ask Master to let Natsu join us?" asked Millianna.

"No Millianna, we won't do that even though Natsu would greatly improve any guilds chance at winning this year, we won't change our rules just so that we could win." replied Kagura.

"That's no fun, I wanted to find him, he's always so fun to be around." said Millianna as she started to pout.

"I don't know about how fun he is to be around but this will definitely hurt our chances this year at the Grand Magic Games." stated Kagura.

"How will this hurt us?" asked Millianna.

"Simple, whatever guild he joins has a greater chance of winning this year." explained Kagura.

"That's why I wanted him to join us." said Millianna with a huge grin.

"We already went over that Millianna." replied Kagura with a sigh.

"Yea but what if we get him to join us, so that no one else can have him and then we don't use him at the games." suggested Millianna still with her grin on her face.

"Like I said earlier Natsu can't join Mermaid Heel, but I do like where you were going with that idea." said Kagura, now coming up with her own little plan.

"But my plan was to have him join us." stated Millianna now slightly confused.

"I was talking about the other half, where no other guild can have him." stated Kagura with a glint in her eye.

"Still don't get it Kagura." said Millianna now looking at Kagura waiting for her to explain more.

"Simple, we need to find him and convince him to not join any other guild until after the Grand Magic Games." said Kagura with a devious smirk, glad that she thought of this plan.

"Good idea Kagura, but I have one more question." said Millianna.

"And what is that Millianna?" asked Kagura.

"How are we going to convince Natsu to not join a different guild?" asked Millianna.

"Good question, well we don't have to have an answer for that until we find him. We can think about that while we are looking for him." answered Kagura with a confident smile.

"Is it just going to be you and me looking for him, because if so I think that we won't find him before someone else does." stated Millianna.

"Good point Millianna, lets tell the rest of the guild to keep an eye out for him, and if they do find him tell him we have something very important to talk to him about." responded Kagura now completely confident in her plan even though she still didn't know how she was going to convince Natsu to not participate in the Grand Magic Games.

"That'll definitely help, I'm going to go and tell the rest of the members right now." said Millianna as she bounded off to the closest member to tell them there plan.

"This will definitely be the year of Mermaid Heel." stated Kagaura with a sly smile.

 **At Sabretooth:**

"Why is there so much paper work, when running a guild?" asked Sting looking over at Lector in the corner of the room.

"I couldn't tell you, at least our members don't cause as much damage as Fairy Tail mages do." replied Lector trying to make Sting see that it could be worse. Then they both heard a knock at the door.

"Come on in, its open." replied Sting glad that he now had a reason to stop doing paper work.

"We thought you should see this Sting." said Rogue as he, Minerva, and Frosch walked in.

"Frosch thinks so too." replied Frosch.

"What could be so important that all three of you needed to interrupt me while doing paperwork." asked Sting in fake anger.

"We all know that you hate paper work, but here take a look at that." said Minerva as she tossed him a copy of Sorcerer's Weekly.

"What a copy of… No way!" said Sting as he finally read the cover of the magazine.

"Nope it is the real deal, the Salamander is an independent mage as of right now!" replied Minerva with a smirk.

"But why?" asked Sting looking at Rogue and Minerva.

"He gives a few reasons like wanting to see what else is out there besides Fairy Tail, also sounds like he is looking for someone too." replied Rogue.

"He did also say that one reason was so that he could finally let loose, which if he has been holding back this whole time I can't even imagine what it will look like him going all out." said Minerva.

"So why don't they have a picture of him on the cover?" asked Sting causing both Rogue and Minerva to smack their faces with their hand, both thinking that how is he their Master.

"That's what Natsu looks like now you idiot!" shouted Minerva.

"No way that is just so different than what he normally looks like." stated Sting scanning Natsu's new look.

"What's with the black flames?" asked Lector from atop Sting's shoulder.

"It doesn't say, it's apparently one of the few secrets that he will be keeping, but he did use it to beat Jura Neekis in a fight." answered Minerva taking a seat on the couch knowing that this might take a while.

"What do you mean one of the secrets that he will be keeping?" asked Sting looking at Minerva.

"Well apparently Sorcerer's Weekly got an exclusive interview with Natsu, and the next three months will have articles about him." replied Rogue.

"Covering what?" asked Sting.

"You know, if you just read it you would know just as much as us, right?" asked Minerva while rolling her eyes.

"Nope your Master doesn't have time for that when you two can give him the bullet points." stated Sting with his own little smirk.

"Whatever, well it apparently will be cover pretty much his whole life, from when he was found by his dragon to where he left Fairy Tail, and everything in between." replied Minerva.

"Wow, that is a lot to cover." said Sting still looking at the picture of Natsu.

"You do know what this means?" asked Minerva.

"No, what does this mean Minreva?" Sting asked her right back.

"That this time at the Grand Magic Games, we have a better chance of taking number one guild back from Fairy Tail." answered Rogue.

"Frosch thinks so too." replied Frosch.

"It also means that Natsu could join Sabretooth and help us do it. Which would make the win just that much better, using their old member to beat them, it would be great." stated Minerva with a devious grin.

"You do remember that we are on friendly terms with Fairy Tail." stated Sting looking at her like she might have forgotten.

"I do, but it never hurts to have a friendly rivalry going, it would push both guilds to get stronger which helps everyone." replied Minerva still grinning.

"You do have a point there, but why do you think that Natsu would even want to do that?" asked Sting.

"To get some payback of course." said Minerva who it seemed was enjoying this way more than she should be.

"What makes you think that Natsu would want to do that, he loves Fairy Tail." stated Sting.

"Yes the article made that abundantly clear, but why did he leave Fairy Tail then?" asked Minerva.

"You guys just told me why he did." said Sting starting to get confused at what Minerva was getting at.

"Yes that is what he told the reporter, which is what he wants the public to think. But I can guarantee you that he did not leave on the best of terms with Fairy Tail, and wouldn't mind seeing them knocked down from number one. Also this would be the best way for him to do it because he actually won't be really hurting them. It is the perfect revenge for a nice guy like Natsu." explained Minerva with her grin growing now.

"I can see how that makes sense." replied Sting.

"Also since you guys patched things up and are friends now, which will make it even more enticing for him to join us. Plus as a pleasant bonus for you, you would technically be his superior and out rank him." said Minerva knowing that last part would seal the deal for Sting.

"Your right Minerva, we will have to bring Natsu here and show him that we care about him, and that we would accept him with open arms like the great friends that we are." replied Sting now having a similar smirk like Minerva's.

"You just want to be his Master don't you Sting?" asked Rogue not believing that Minerva had manipulated him that easily.

"What are you talking about Rogue, I said we're doing this in the name of friendship." said Sting.

"So what is with the evil grin." asked Rogue.

"I don't have any evil grin, it's just showing that I am happy to give this offer to Natsu." explained Sting.

"Whatever, you will probably need something more than the offer of revenge to get Natsu to join." stated Rogue truly not caring about this anymore.

"You're right Rogue, what are your ideas on this Minerva?" asked Sting causing Minerva to smile at him.

"Why did you ask her, I was the one that pointed out that we would need more to get him to join?" asked Rogue slightly hurt that Sting went straight to Minerva.

"Because she definitely is better at this sort of thing than you or I." stated Sting as if it was obvious.

"You do have a point there." agreed Rogue.

"So what's your plan Minerva?" asked Sting.

"Well first we need to know where he is, which would help if the whole guild knew that we are looking for him." replied Minerva.

"Well of course we would have the whole guild help, this is our top priority." stated Sting.

"Well then, after that just leave everything else to me." said Minerva smirking once again.

"Why does that make me feel nervous?" asked Rogue not liking the look in Minerva's eye.

"I have no idea why it should Rogue, are you saying that you don't trust me?" asked Minerva faking being hurt by his words.

"I didn't say that, I trust you completely Minerva." stated Rogue.

"Good, well do I have permission to start on this Master Sting?" asked Minerva.

"Yes Minerva, and thanks for taking lead on this." replied Sting.

"Always happy to help." said Minerva as she then exited the office.

"Why do I feel that we might regret letting her take point on this one?" asked Rogue.

"Frosch thinks so too." chirped in Frosch.

"Oh you two are just getting worked up over nothing." replied Sting as he put his feet on his desk and reclined a bit in his chair.

"I do hope that you are right." mumbled Rogue to himself.

 **At Crime Sorciere:**

"Jellal I have very important news." said Meredy as she came running up to him.

"What is it Meredy?" asked Jellal now concerned because Meredy doesn't get worked up easily.

"Natsu left Fairy Tail!" shouted Meredy.

"What, why would he do a thing like that?" asked Jellal.

"I don't know why he did, but he definitely did." replied Meredy.

"If you don't know why he did, then how can you be sure that he left Fairy Tail?" asked Jellal.

"Because it was on the cover of Sorcerer's Weekly." replied Meredy.

"And you didn't think to grab a copy so we could find out?" asked Jellal in complete disbelief that she wouldn't just grab one.

"Oops I didn't even think of that, as soon as I saw it I came to tell you." said Meredy slightly embarrassed that she didn't think of that.

"Racer could you quickly go into town and grab us a copy?" asked Jellal.

"Sure thing Jellal." replied Racer and was gone the next second.

"Salamander better watch his back, because if I was like my old self then this is the time that I would attack him." stated Cobra.

"I have to agree with you on that one Cobra, this would be the prime time to strike, before he joins a new guild." said Angel.

"You don't think he will get hurt do you Jellal?" asked Meredy surprisingly concerned about the dragon slayer.

"It's Natsu were talking about here, all of us have gone against him at one point in time, and he is still standing." answered Jellal.

"Good point Jellal." replied Meredy with a smile.

"Here you go Jellal, and I grabbed a copy for everyone else." said Racer as he handed them, out and everyone instantly started to read. They all finished and were quite surprised at what they read and saw.

"I like his new outfit." said Meredy with a slight blush.

"He does look quite good in it doesn't he." agreed Angel.

"I can't believe that he plans on being an independent Mage." stated Hoteye.

"Yea that will definitely make life for him a lot more dangerous." replied Racer.

"Just the way Salamander likes it." said Cobra with a smug grin.

"Well I actually might have been wrong on him being fine Meredy." said Jellal.

"Why is that?" asked Meredy.

"I assumed that he would be joining a different guild, but of course we are talking about Natsu here and he never does things the easy way. This means that he will become the target of a lot of bad people." replied Jellal.

"Then we should help him." stated Meredy.

"And how would we do that Meredy, we are still wanted criminals, well except for you that is." pointed out Jellal.

"I don't know maybe ask him to join us." said Meredy trying to come up with other ideas.

"Why would he want to join a group of criminals?" asked Cobra.

"Natsu wouldn't and doesn't see us like that, and because we are always doing one of his favorite things." replied Meredy.

"And what is that, running away from the council?" asked Racer.

"Nope, fighting Dark Guilds." replied Meredy with a huge smile.

"Actually she does have a point there, he does really enjoy doing that." said Cobra.

"Well it wouldn't hurt to ask him now would it?" asked Hoteye.

"Hoteye is right, if we happen to run into him we should see if he wants to join us." said Angel.

"Who do you think he's looking for?" asked Racer.

"I have no idea who he would want to find." said Jellal.

"Actually the better question is who he couldn't find with his dragon senses, those are the possible candidates of who Salamander is looking for." replied Cobra.

"That is a very good point Cobra, but I still can't think of one." said Meredy.

"I wonder how Fairy Tail is dealing with this?" asked Jellal, mainly thinking about a certain red haired women.

"They'll be fine Jellal, they're Fairy Tail they always pull through." said Meredy with a big smile.

"Yea you're right Meredy." said Jellal with a small smile.

"So where are we headed to next?" asked Cobra.

"Apparently there have been a few Dark guilds popping up in the north west of Fiore, so let's go there." replied Jellal as he and the rest of the group departed.

 **At Quatro Cerberus:**

"Guys as some of you know Natsu Dragneel is no longer a member of Fairy Tail." said Master Goldmine.

"So what are you trying to say Master?" asked Rocker.

"That this is going to be the year that we become the number one guild in Fiore." shouted out Master Goldmine.

"Your soul will always be wild!" shouted the entire guild in response.

"Master wouldn't it be helpful to try and get Natsu to join us?" asked Bacchus.

"Yes it would Bacchus if we could actually get him to join, but I have a strange feeling that wouldn't happen. So instead of wasting energy trying to find him and get him to join us like all of the other guilds are probably doing, we will use that to train ensuring that this year we will be number one." replied Master Goldmine.

"That was very well thought out Master, that's why you're the Master." said Bacchus with a grin.

"And don't you forget it. So let's go wild guys!" shouted Master Goldmine.

 **At the Council:**

The magic council was at this moment having a special meeting concerning a certain individual.

"So we are here to discuss what we plan on doing with Natsu Dragneel publicly becoming an independent mage." stated the Chairman.

"What can we do there isn't any law saying that you have to be affiliated with a guild." replied a councilman.

"Your right, but we don't want this becoming a new fad, now do we?" asked another councilman.

"That would be terrible, it is hard enough managing and keeping the guilds inline, we don't need to have tons of independent mages following suit after Natsu Dragneel." stated a councilwomen.

"Do you really think he is that popular to get other mages wanting to become independent?" asked a different councilman than the first two.

"No that is not what I am concerned about, those mages know all of the advantages of being a part of a guild, and are not dumb enough to follow Natsu Dragneel on whatever you want to call this. What I am concerned about is the next generation of mages, they really look up to Natsu Dragneel and you can't really blame them when you look at his track record." stated the Chairman

"He is a very impressive wizard, he did just beat Jura Neekis a while ago and from a very reliable source, I heard that he tied Gildarts Clive." pointed out a councilman.

"So what are some possible solutions to our problem here?" asked the councilwoman from earlier.

"I do not have any ideas, what I do know is that we need to act quick, we cannot make the same mistakes as the previous Council and sit ideally by, and be content with the status quo." stated a councilman.

"We could always try and pressure him into joining a guild again." suggested a different councilwoman.

"That is exactly what we should not do?" replied the Chairman.

"And why is that?" she asked him back.

"Because that would only push him away from doing that, it is well known that he has and probably will always do what he wants." stated the Chairman.

"Then we force him too, we are the Council it is well within our rights." she argued.

"No it is not since he hasn't done anything wrong yet, even if he does continue on with his destructive tendencies we can only fine him. Because if we did any more the public would instantly turn against us, Natsu Dragneel has saved Fiore numerous times, and with the articles coming out about all that he has done, he will become a Hero to the people even more than he already is." explained the Chairman.

"Those are real possibilities if we chose to do any of that." replied a councilman.

"Well what if we got him to work for us?" asked a councilwoman.

"As what, one of the Ten Wizard Saints, I don't think so, the ones that we have right now are good." replied a different councilman.

"What if we made him the commander of a regimen of Rune Knights?" asked the councilwomen.

"I highly doubt that, it seems like Natsu Dragneel wants to go it alone at this point in his life, at least according to the information that we have been provided." replied the Chairman.

"Could we possible just come up with a new position just for him?" asked a councilman.

"That is actually not a bad idea, but what would be the purpose of this position? It would need to be something that he wouldn't mind doing for us, otherwise there is no way he would go for it." said a councilwomen.

"Well that sounds like the most promising idea we have come up with so far. So we will have to come up with a new position in the council, but as for now let's just keep a very close eye on what Natsu Dragneel is up to and we can discuss what needs to be done at the next meeting. Unless there is any objections this meeting of the Council is adjourned." said the Chairman as the rest of the council got up and left.

"I am very interested in you Natsu Dragneel, what are you going to do next?" said the Chairman to himself.

 **Two weeks later:**

"I can't believe I wasted all of that time, and it was just a giant lizard of in these mountains, doesn't anybody know the difference between dragons and lizards. Well at least I got some really good training in and mastered that new move." thought Natsu as he looked off the cliff edge at the rising son.

"Man this has to be one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever seen." Natsu got ready to make his decent down the mountain. That is until he felt his right bracelet let off a little spark, which is something he hoped he would never feel from that bracelet, because it meant that one of the people that he gave a medallion to needed his help.

He pulled down his sleeve to look and see who it was, when he saw who it was his face became that of a person ready to take on the whole world if needed. **"LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON GOD MODE!"** Natsu shouted as he was now covered in flames and electricity, the next second he launched himself into the air and shot towards the rising sun leaving a trail of flames and electricity in his wake.

"If they so much as lay a single finger on you, I swear to Mavis I will rip out their spines." Natsu growled to himself as he flew through the skies at an incredible speed.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope that the reactions by the guilds that I showed were good enough and not too boring. I decided to add the council scene at the last minute thinking that they too would be concerned about what Natsu will be doing. I also didn't use any names for them because there won't be that many scenes with them. Also don't freak out yet about Natsu working for the Council that as of right now isn't the plan but things change, but I would like to hear if you guys have any cool names for the new division of the council if I did so happen to go that route with this story. As always feel free to leave a review.**

 **Until the next chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	19. Catching Up

Chapter 19: Catching Up

On the outskirts of Magnolia an explosion goes off, but it gets almost no one's attention since this is the town that has the rowdiest guild in all of Fiore, Fairy Tail. Out of the explosion that made a little crater on the outskirts of Magnolia steps out Natsu Dragneel, wearing his grey pinstriped outfit and a look of pure hatred.

"I think that I might have come in a little too fast on that one, now where is she?" asked Natsu as he started to sniff the air. He noticed something strange and that it was just her scent and no one else's like he expected there to be when he received the distress call, but that didn't matter right now. What he needed to do was find her and make sure that she was safe, afterwards he could then make whoever did this pay, and boy would they pay.

Natsu then sprinted off, following her scent which was leading him into the woods. A place that he knew quite well from all of the time that he spent in it while being a member of Fairy Tail, this meant that he knew most of the dangers that it held within it. Such as the Forest Vulcan, which isn't that tough of an opponent but could be a problem if they got the drop on you, they also liked to work in groups which allowed them to over whelm even strong opponents.

And unfortunately for Natsu, her sent lead straight into their territory, which was making him more nervous for her safety. This caused Natsu to intensify his pace to speeds that would have made him look like a grey blur if anyone witnessed him running through the woods. He then finally came upon who he had been looking for, and what he saw made him feel better, knowing that she wasn't kidnapped, but she still was in trouble so Natsu did what came natural to him.

 **"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"** shouted Natsu as punched the Forest Vulcan closest to her, in the side of the face launching him across the woods in a fiery explosion. Natsu then turned to the rest of the Forest Vulcans while igniting this body and let out a roar that would rival that of an actual dragon, with fire spewing from his mouth.

 **At the other side of Magnolia in the forest:**

"Did you hear that Wendy?" asked Romeo looking back at Wendy and then realizing that she wasn't moving at all.

"Wendy are you okay?" asked Romeo came around to look at her in the eyes and was completely confused now, because she had tears coming out of her eyes but also had a huge smile on her face.

"Natsu-nii." was all that Wendy whispered and was gone before Romeo could ask her anymore question.

"Did she just say Natsu?" asked Romeo looking to where they exceeds were, but realized that they too were now gone.

"Well thanks for taking me with you guys, it's not like I want to see him also." said Romeo angrily as he headed towards the guild assuming that is where they would eventually end up.

 **At Fairy Tail:**

"Gii hii, I pity whatever pissed you off Salamander." said Gajeel with a huge grin.

"What was that Gajeel?" asked Levy who was sitting next to him.

"You'll see soon enough Shrimp." replied Gajeel with a huge grin.

"Oh come on Gajeel tell me." begged Levy giving him the puppy dog eyes knowing that he couldn't resist them. But luckily for him Jet busted into the guild bringing all of the attention onto him.

"Did you guys hear that?" asked Jet looking for someone who might have heard it.

"Heard what Jet?" asked Droy.

"I guess you guys probably didn't hear it because this place is always so loud, but just a few seconds ago I and the rest of Magnolia heard an epic roar. It actually reminds me of the roars we heard during the dragon invasion." explained Jet.

"You don't think we are getting attacked by a dragon, do you?" asked Cana not liking the sound of that since the only person who really did anything to a dragon was Natsu and he is no longer here.

"I don't know, but I do know that Magnolia is kind of freaking out about it. We should probably get ready In case it is one." said Jet about to start getting prepared.

"Settle down Jet, it is friendly trust me, gii hii." said Gajeel with a huge grin.

"Wait you heard it and know what it is and that it's friendly!" shouted Jet angry that Gajeel didn't say something sooner.

"Gii hii." was Gajeel's only response, and the guild was about to ask him more questions when the doors were slammed open once again.

"Is Asuka here?" asked a frightened Alzack and Bisca.

"No she isn't?" replied Mira now concerned for the little girl.

"Oh god no, we can't find her and then we heard that roar and were hoping that she was here." explained Bisca almost in tears just thinking about all of the bad things that might be happening to her daughter.

"Now things are starting to make sense." mumbled Gajeel loud enough that only a few heard him, one happened to be Mira.

"Alright everyone, we need to split up and look everywhere for Asuka." declared Cana taking control of the situation since Master Makarov was on a meeting and Team Natsu were out trying to find Natsu.

"Everyone stop, we don't need to look for Asuka." declared Gajeel shocking the whole guild.

"Gajeel, how can you say that." shouted Levy as she started to hit him.

"Settle down Shrimp, I promise that Asuka will be here in less than fifteen minutes tops and she will be perfectly fine." replied Gajeel with a confident grin.

"How can you make such a bold promise when you have no idea where our daughter is!" shouted Alzack ready to beat the shit out of Gajeel.

"Simple, he would destroy the whole world before he would let anything happen to your daughter, gii hii." answered Gajeel with a big grin.

"Who are you talking about?" asked Alzack.

"Natsu!" said both Mira and Bisca, finally having put all of the pieces together.

"Are you serious?" asked Levy looking at Gajeel for an answer, to which he only smiled.

"Oh my god, I can't believe he's back in Magnolia." stated Cana.

"Man I can't wait to see him again." said Jet with a smile.

"I know right, it has been forever since we last saw him." said Nab from in front of the request board.

"Maybe he will tell us what he has planned in two months." said Macao.

"Hey shouldn't we call Master and Team Natsu?" asked Wakaba.

"Yea they would be really happy to see him." replied Max.

"I don't think we should do that, especially if we want him to stay more than a few minutes." said Mira with a sad smile.

"What are you talking about Mira?" asked Cana.

"I am just guessing here, but they were the ones that hurt him the most, so he might not want to see them yet. If he asks about them while here then we can call them, but if he doesn't then I think that we should let Natsu determine when he meets them again." explained Mira causing the rest of the guild to remain quiet.

"I think Mira is right on this, it is something that they will have to work out on their own." said Levy.

"I guess you two are right." agreed Wakaba.

"I can't wait to see him in that new hot outfit." said Cana, which got the guild back to its normal self, all of them waiting for the doors to open and for him to step in with that grin of his. A few minutes passed and then finally they opened.

"Hey guys I have great news." said Romeo with a huge grin on his face.

"Dammit it's just Romeo." said a few members disappointed that it wasn't Natsu.

"Well isn't that a warm welcome." replied Romeo with a scowl on his face.

"Sorry Romeo, they were all just hoping that it was Natsu." explained Mira with her normal smile.

"Damn and here I thought that I was going to be able to give you guys the great news." said Romeo with a small frown.

"How did you know that he is back?" asked Levy.

"Oh, well Wendy and I were training and then she just stopped when we heard that roar. The next thing I know she whispers his name and then takes off, leaving me all alone, even Happy and Carla left me." explained Romeo, causing a few members to laugh at him being forgotten so easily. They all then continued to wait for Natsu to turn up at the guild in any minute.

 **Back at the woods with Natsu:**

The Forest Vulcan might not be the smartest creature out there, but they can tell when they are outmatched, especially when the opponent puts on a display of power just like Natsu did right then. So the rest of the Forest Vulcans turned tail and ran for their lives, which is good because if they stayed any longer they probably would have been burned to a crisp. Natsu then deactivated his fire and turned around to check and see if she was alright, but was immediately tackled by her hugging him.

"Uncle Natsu!" she said while crying tears of joy.

"Hey Asuka, it's nice to see you too." said Natsu with a huge smile while hugging her back.

"I knew you would come, just like you said you would." said Asuka still hugging Natsu, making sure that he wasn't going to leave her.

"Yep, I will always come when you use that medallion. So could you tell me what happened, because I for some reason have a feeling that you didn't use the medallion because of the Forest Vulcans?" asked Natsu with a smile that would make anyone feel safe.

"Do you promise to not get angry at me Uncle Natsu?" asked Asuka looking up at him with her teary eyes.

"I promise Asuka, you could never make me angry." Natsu reassured her.

"Okay, well it started earlier this morning." said Asuka a little nervous.

 **Flashback to earlier this Moring:**

"Wow Asuka, you are up early this morning." stated Bisca as she was cooking breakfast.

"Yep, because Uncle Natsu is going to be here today." replied Asuka happily.

"Oh honey, I don't want to upset you but the chances of that are small." said Bisca with a sad smile.

"No they aren't mom, I just know that he will be here today." said Asuka defiantly.

"Sorry Asuka, but I don't want you to get your hopes up to only be disappointed when he doesn't show up." replied Bisca with the same smile that she had before.

"You're wrong mom, he will definitely show up today, I'll show you, just you wait and see mom!" shouted Asuka as she sprinted outside of their house. She continued on sprinting until she found herself on the outskirts of Magnolia.

"I just know uncle Natsu will." stated Asuka out loud as she started to play with her medallion that Natsu gave her. This then gave her an idea of how to make sure that Natsu would definitely show up, because he promised that he would.

"So all I have to do is put a little bit of magic into it while thinking of uncle Natsu." said Asuka thinking out loud, and then doing exactly that.

"Uncle Natsu said that he would come as fast as he could, I wonder how long that will be?" asked Asuka while taking a seat and started to play with her guns, twirling them like her dad would always do. After waiting for an hour she got bored and decided to go and explore the woods, even though her parents told her to never go in there alone.

"Wow it's so pretty in here, why did mom and dad tell me to never come in here alone?" asked Asuka with a smile as she kept exploring the woods. She then heard some loud noises off in the distance and decided to see what was going on, once she got close she saw that two Forest Vulcans were battling each other, while a whole bunch were just watching it.

"I wonder what they are fighting about." Asuka thought to herself, but then noticed that there was a huge shadow looming over her. Turning around she saw that one of the Forest Vulcans was now behind her.

"Look what we have here." said the Vulcan with a big stupid grin on his face.

"Stay back Mr. Vulcan I don't want to hurt you." declared Asuka as she pulled out her two guns and pointed them at the Vulcan.

"Look women and I found her first." stated the Vulcan as he reached for Asuka.

 **"FIRE SHOT!"** said Asuka and then pulled the trigger on both of her guns. The next second the Forest Vulcan was blasted by two concentrated shots of pure fire, which once hitting its target consumed it in fire while also launching it back a few yards to where it laid unconscious.

"I warned you Mr. Vulcan." stated Asuka with a proud grin at taking on a Forest Vulcan all by herself.

"Women, women." was now being chanted by all of the Forest Vulcans, which caused Asuka to turn back around to them and see that they were all doing a weird happy dance.

"Stay back all of you, or I will do it again." declared Asuka pointing her guns at the group of Vulcans and then focusing on one of the Vulcans that was coming closer to her.

"But you won't be able to stop all of us." said the Vulcan with a big grin, causing Asuka to start back peddling until she was up against a tree.

"But I definitely will be able to get at least you." said Asuka glaring at the Vulcan, who only grinned big at her and was about to say something but then something appeared and prevented that from happening.

 **"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"** and the Vulcan was launched away in a burst of fire.

"Uncle Natsu?" asked Asuka in whisper not believing that he just appeared when she needed him the most. Then Natsu ignited himself on fire putting all doubts that it might not be him out of Asuka's mind, and then let out that tremendous roar. Causing the rest of the Forest Vulcans put their tails between the legs and run to somewhere far from here where they could be safe.

 **End of Flashback:**

"HAHAHA of course I am not mad at you Asuka, even though you used the medallion when it was only supposed to be used for emergencies." said Natsu as he got up with Asuka still hugging on to him.

"I'm sorry uncle Natsu, I just wanted to see you really bad." explained Asuka as she hugged his neck tighter.

"No problem, but next time that you want to see me that bad go talk to Mira or Wendy. So next time I won't think that you are in danger and be ready to destroy everything in my path." explained Natsu.

"You would do that for me?" asked Asuka looking up at him.

"Of course Asuka, you are really important to me, I couldn't handle it if something bad happened to you. Which reminds me, I bet your parents are worried sick about you right now so how about we go see them." said Natsu with his normal smile.

"Alright uncle Natsu, but you will stay for a bit right?" asked Asuka looking up at him with her puppy dog eyes, the only girl that could still get Natsu with them because he knew that hers were genuine.

"Of course Asuka, but I don't know how long that will be, it might be only a few hours." answered Natsu as they headed out of the woods.

"Okay but I want you to stay longer so could you try to stay longer for me?" asked Asuka.

"Just for you I will Asuka, and would you like to ride on my shoulders?" asked Natsu giving her another simile.

"Yes please Uncle Natsu." replied Asuka happily since she was now getting everything she could ask for.

"I see that your parents gave my gift to you, so how do you like them?" asked Natsu as he put her on his shoulders.

"They're the best gift ever uncle Natsu, thank you so much for them and their names are perfect. Also look uncle Natsu they are the same color as your hair, salmon and not pink like everyone else thinks." replied Asuka with a huge grin.

"HAHAHA that is why you're the best Asuka, you know a good color when you see it." said Natsu while chuckling at the little girls antics.

"Uncle Natsu why did you add red to your head?" asked Asuka as she started to play with his hair.

"I don't really know Asuka; I thought that I might try something different. What do you think, does it look okay?" asked Natsu as he looked up at her.

"Yeah it's alright." replied Asuka.

"Alright, that's not good enough for me, it needs to be awesome." responded Natsu.

"It's awesome, it's just that I am not used to your hair being this way, it is just different." explained Asuka now also messing with his hat.

"So Asuka, have you put any other magic into TORCH and SPARK?" asked Natsu curious at what magic she would put in them.

"Yep, in SPARK I put in: lightning magic, lightning dragon slayer magic and sky dragon slayer magic. While in TORCH I put: ice magic, sleep magic and healing magic. With all of those I am unstoppable just like you uncle Natsu." said Asuka really proud of the magic that she has in them.

"HAHAHA those are some really strong guns you have there Asuka, but you're wrong on one thing, no one can become unstoppable there will always be someone who is better than you. Which is why you have to train and also it really helps to have a team to count on." explained Natsu.

"Okay uncle Natsu, but right now there aren't any members my age at the guild." replied Asuka sad that she had no one her age.

"Well that is because you are just so skilled for your age." said Natsu with a huge grin, but was then knocked onto his ass by another person hugging him.

"I knew it was you as soon as I heard that roar." said Wendy while crying into his chest.

"Was it really that loud?" asked Natsu while hugging her back with one arm as the other one made sure Asuka was still being held properly.

"Idiot, I am pretty sure that all of Magnolia heard that Natsu-nii." replied Wendy while giggling at the fact that he was still the same Natsu that she loved like an older brother.

"Dam and I wanted to not draw that much attention." said Natsu with his normal grin.

"I don't think you are possible of that Natsu-nii." said Wendy smiling up at him.

"I am really glad to see you Wendy, but I have to return this little trouble maker to her parents before they get really worried." said Natsu pointing up at Asuka on his shoulders.

"Hi Wendy!" said Asuka while waving at her.

"Oh hi Asuka, I didn't even notice you up there." replied Wendy as she got up off of Natsu so that they could continue on.

"What do you think of uncle Natsu's hair and outfit asked Asuka with a huge grin on her face while peering over Natsu's hat.

"I really like the new hair and outfit makes him look older, but I thought that your suit was white?" asked Wendy while looking at Natsu.

"Actually I have four different colors of this, with pinstriped as well for a total of eight different but same outfits." explained Natsu.

"What are the other colors?" asked an excited Asuka.

"Black and red." answered Natsu as he did a quick step to the right to dodge a screaming blue blur.

"NAAATSSUUUU!" said Happy as he flew past them and hit a tree.

"Natsu, how could you?" asked Happy while rubbing his head while sitting on the ground.

"Sorry Happy, I have already been knocked over twice today and that is enough for me, also I am carrying precious cargo." answered Natsu as he then pointed up to Asuka who seemed to be invisible up there.

"Hi Happy, are you okay?" asked Asuka tilting her head to the side.

"Happy will be fine Asuka, it will take a lot more than that to hurt him." replied Carla.

"Hi Carla." said Asuka happy to see the two exceeds that are barely at the guild anymore.

"Hi Asuka and Natsu, glad to see that you came back Natsu." said Carla.

"Wow I am surprised to hear that from you Carla." said Natsu since he really never thought that he would hear that from her.

"I was wrong about you Natsu, and I saw that once you left." replied Charle as she landed on Wendy's shoulder.

"Well let's head to the guild, I am pretty sure that is where your parents are." stated Natsu as he picked up Happy and placed him on his right shoulder next to Asuka.

"Yea, so did you do anything exciting while you were gone?" asked Happy just glad to be near his best friend age.

"Nothing too exciting or that you haven't read in Sorcerer's Weekly." replied Natsu with a small grin.

"Are you lying to me Natsu?" asked Happy.

"Nope, honestly the stuff that I didn't tell you about weren't that exciting, so how about we go get you the biggest fish in Magnolia." said Natsu with a huge grin.

"Yeah fish, and I want five of them Natsu, not just one." declared Happy making everyone else laugh.

"Sure thing buddy." replied Natsu as they were now in Magnolia heading towards the market. This was really beneficial for Natsu because it allowed him to search for a few people's magical presence and scents that he would rather not see still. And as luck would have it the people that he really didn't want to see happened to not even be in Magnolia, so Natsu had really no good reason to not pay the guild a visit.

"So Wendy how's the training going?" asked Natsu not really knowing what else to say right now since he had already bought Happy his fish.

"I already told you that it is going really good, I want to show you how much I have learned." said Wendy happy that she will finally be able to show him what she can do now.

"I will gladly see that but I think a few people want to speak with me at the guild, so how about tonight at your place." said Natsu with his normal grin.

"Can I come too?" asked Asuka.

"As long as it is okay with your parents." replied Natsu giving her a grin as well.

"Yea, I can't wait." shouted Asuka.

"Seems that you are pretty confident that your parents will let you." replied Wendy smiling up at the little girl.

"Why wouldn't they, I will be with two dragon slayers nothing can stop you two." declared Asuka.

"AHAHAH, that actually gives me an idea Asuka, why don't you ask Wendy here to go on a few quests with you?" asked Natsu smiling at the both of them.

"Would you Wendy?" asked Asuka looking at her hopefully.

"Of course I would Asuka, but once again as long as your parents approve of every job that we take." replied Wendy smiling at Asuka.

"We are going to become the new strongest team of Fairy Tail." shouted Asuka raising her fist in the air.

"I truly believe that you two will be able to do that." said Natsu as he got up next to the doors of the guild.

"Really do you think so Natsu-nii?" asked Wendy looking up at him.

"Of course I do, so are you guys ready to go in?" asked Natsu.

"Shouldn't we be the ones asking you that?" said Happy with a big grin.

"Good point Happy, here goes nothing." said Natsu as he opened the doors and went in.

"Hey everybody." said Natsu as everyone was quiet and just looked at him.

"See mom, I told you that he would be here." said Asuka proudly as Natsu set her on the ground.

"That you did Honey, and I am sorry that I didn't believe you." said Bisca as she hugged her daughter.

"So Asuka what happened, your mother and I were very worried about you." said Alzack.

"You're not going to believe it dad I took out a Forest Vulcan all by myself." declared Asuka proudly, which caused her parents and everybody else to be surprised.

"How did that happen?" asked a very concerned Bisca. To which Asuka told everyone her little adventure that she had earlier that day, the whole while Natsu just stood there with a proud smile on his face.

"See Asuka that is why we told you to never go in there by yourself." scolded Bisca.

"Natsu I don't know how I can ever repay you for saving her." said Alzack as he hugged Natsu, once again bringing all of the attention back to Natsu.

"There's no need for that, I am just glade that I got there in time." replied Natsu with a smile.

"Natsu!" said Mira who looked as if she was about to kill him as she came over to him.

"Mira, I know that it doesn't mean much but I am so sorry." said Natsu with his head down in shame.

 **SLAP**

"That's for leaving without talking to me, and this is for coming back." said Mira as she hugged him and didn't let go for a good five minutes.

"I am glad to be back, but you do know that this is just a visit right?" asked Natsu not wanting to mislead her.

"I know you idiot, don't remind me." she said as she playfully hit him.

"So how has everyone been doing?" asked Natsu to which all he got was pretty much everyone being fine as an answer.

"Salamander, we are going to have to take a raincheck on that fight because Lily and I have to head out on a quest, but it was nice seeing you again. And by the way Salamander you better be ready for a major beat down." said Gajeel as he got up from his table and headed towards the exit.

"It was good seeing you too Gajeel, good luck on the mission and it was nice seeing you as well Pantherlily." said Natsu as the two were leaving.

"It was nice seeing you too King Natsu." replied Lily with a huge grin on his face as they left.

"Lily, I can't believe you said that!" shouted Levy pissed off that Lily let Natsu know that they knew that about him.

"Should have guessed that you would have figured it out this quick Levy, especially since I gave you the tools to figure it out." said Natsu with a big grin.

"So it's true that you are the next Fire King?" asked Levy.

"Yep but I assume that you know it isn't like most kings right." said Natsu.

"Yea it's more a title showing who's the strongest in wielding fire, so is it true that you can do extraordinary things with your flames?" asked Levy wanting Natsu to give details.

"HAHAHA yes Levy I can do things with my flames that no one else can, and no I will not tell you what they are since I am still trying to figure out all that they are capable of." said Natsu giving her a sly smirk.

"Oh come on Natsu please tell me one thing that your flames can do, please?" asked Levy.

"I am also curious Natsu." said Mira.

"Me too Natsu-nii." stated Wendy looking up at him.

"Sorry guys I want to keep some things a secret." stated Natsu not relenting even though it was really hard not to.

"Come on Natsu, just one little thing." begged Romeo.

"Yea uncle Natsu, just one thing." said Asuka as she hugged his leg.

"You are going to be the death of me Asuka, you know that right?" asked Natsu as he patted her cowboy hat.

"Nope because, then I will just save you then uncle Natsu like you are always doing for us." she said with a big grin on her face, causing everyone watching to smile at what she just said to Natsu.

"I know you will Asuka; okay I will tell you one thing that I can do with my fire. I have the ability to pretty much pair it with any other elemental magic type." stated Natsu telling one of the secrets that wasn't to big considering that he has already done this in front of them.

"Nope, different one Natsu we already knew that one." said Levy.

"Well you might have Levy, but judging by the reactions of some people's faces this is news to them." said Natsu not wanting to tell a different one.

"But I was the one who brought this up and asked you Natsu." said Levy not backing down.

"Okay, man when did you get so bossy Levy it feels like I am arguing with Erza. Okay another thing that my fire can do is literally burn everything." said Natsu while shaking his head.

"I don't get it Natsu, what do you mean by that?" asked Wendy.

"I mean I can burn anything with my flames even magic, which actually increases how strong it is. Or if I get good with it, I could use a lot less magic to block attacks since the attack will actually be giving my flames their magic providing them the power to keep going." explained Natsu now looking at them to see how they would deal with this news.

"You have to be kidding me." said Levy with her mouth wide open.

"Nope, that is just one that I am confident that if I gets out no one will believe you, there are a few others that I am trying to figure out how to do. But that is really hard considering that there isn't much recorded on the magic from house Dragneel." said Natsu with a smirk.

"That is so powerful." stated Levy shaking her head back and forth in disbelief.

"I don't get it, what is so special about that?" asked Romeo since this deals with fire magic which he happens to use as well.

"To put it in terms that you might understand Romeo, Natsu can pretty much be like Guildarts and destroy all attacks coming at him. Granted it won't turn them into cubes like Gildarts, his will just eat away at the spell and eventually consume it." explained Levy making everyone in the guild realize how power full that is.

"So he could possibly block a shot from a weapon like the Jupiter Cannon, without any trouble?" asked Romeo trying to make sure that he understood it completely.

"Yes but it wouldn't be easy Romeo, nothing is easy when dealing with that much Magic, but if I did it correctly I would still be in fighting condition afterwards." explained Natsu shocking everyone by that statement.

"Wait how long have you known about all of this Natsu?" asked Mira looking into his eyes to make sure that he didn't lie to her.

"I have always known about them, but I didn't get them until the beginning of this year. I think it might have something to do with making sure that I am worthy of using the flames, and since I am still alive and haven't kicked the can yet, it has judged me as worthy. It could be considered the coming of age for house Dragneel." explained Natsu with a nervous smile because of the intense stare that Mira was giving him.

"Thanks Natsu for telling us." said Mira as she gave him another hug.

"No problem, how about we get something to eat?" asked Natsu looking at Mira, causing her to smile brightly at him.

"Yea, lunch with uncle Natsu." cheered Asuka jumping up and down happily, causing Mira and Natsu to both look at her and smile.

"I could definitely eat after all that training this morning." said Wendy smiling up at Natsu.

"You're telling me." stated Romeo.

"Okay I got an idea, how about we all go eat my treat and I am talking to everyone here." said Natsu loud enough so that everyone could hear him. This got a cheer of approval from the whole guild as they then set out to one of the few restaurants that would be able to accommodate them in Magnolia. Once there they pretty much took up the whole place and started to eat and chat about everyday stuff and pretty much just had a good time, Natsu of course was forced to explain his fights that he has been in since leaving Fairy Tail. After having a great lunch, thanks to the generosity of Natsu, they headed back to the guild to party like they usually do, which is the Fairy Tail way.

"So I was wondering have you been holding back this whole time, like you said in the interview or was that just a joke?" asked Jet sitting down at the table that Natsu was at. Which had Mira, Levy, Wendy, Romeo, Cana, and the whole Connell family.

"Yea I have, since fire is really hard to keep complete control over, I have been holding back on the power in fear of hurting someone or maybe even killing someone." responded Natsu while shaking his head.

"Really, that is hard to believe Natsu, I mean even when fighting some of those really strong opponents?" asked Levy.

"Levy how do you think that I was able to beat them, I of course decided to let it out knowing that if I didn't then my friends where guaranteed to get hurt if not worse." said Natsu giving her a smile.

"That actually makes sense now that I think about it." replied Levy giving Natsu her own little grin.

"So how do you like the books?" asked Natsu.

"There is so much about the dragon culture that I didn't even know existed, and their history is so interesting. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down until I at least finished the chapter I was on." stated Levy joyfully.

"Glad that you are enjoying them, those were actually the first books that I actually enjoyed reading." stated Natsu with a smile.

"I can totally see why Natsu." replied Levy.

"So what are your plans Natsu, because if the rumors are true most guilds are looking for you wanting you to join them?" asked Alzack.

"I don't really have any set plan as of right now, I just go from one thing that sounds interesting to another. And as for the other guilds trying to recruit me they are only doing that because they want me for the Grand Magic Games." answered Natsu.

"So does that mean you won't join them?" asked Bisca.

"I didn't say that, they will definitely have to make a really good offer to make me join because I will honestly always see myself as a Fairy Tail wizard." replied Natsu with a huge smile.

"Does that mean you will come back uncle Natsu?" asked Asuka excitedly; thinking how much fun it would be to go on a quest with Natsu.

"You never know Asuka, but it will definitely won't happen for a while." said Natsu knowing that it was going to make her sad, but he couldn't give her false hope that he might return next month.

"Aw that sucks I wanted to go on a quest with you and Wendy." said Asuka now pouting that it wasn't going to happen.

"Well we could still do that Asuka, I will just help while not being a member." replied Natsu seeing the smile instantly return to her face.

"Really, do you promise uncle Natsu?" asked Asuka.

"I promise that I will go on a quest with you and Wendy within the next year." declared Natsu in a very serious tone.

"Did you hear that mom and dad, we're going to go on a quest." cheered Asuka.

"So Natsu do you think you might come back for the Grand Magic Games?" asked Romeo wanting to see Natsu keep Fairy Tail in their number on position.

"That would be the earliest that I would ever join back with Fairy Tail." said Natsu losing his usual happy tone.

"Oh, I was just wondering Natsu." said Romeo, not happy that he was the one to upset Natsu.

"Its fine Romeo, it just seems that everyone is just so dam focused on those Grand Magic Games, and the last time kind of ended with me almost dying. So let's talk about something else except for those stupid games." said Natsu ending it with one of his usual grins.

"So Natsu, why did you choose that outfit if I had known that you could look so good in clothes like that then I would have brought you along on some of my photo shoots?" asked Mira with a smile, while also trying to change the subject.

"I think you just answered your own question there Mira." said Natsu with a smirk directed towards Mira.

"Oh come on you would have enjoyed it Natsu." replied Mira giving him her own smirk.

"What part of that sounds like something that I would actually enjoy?" asked Natsu raising an eyebrow to her.

"I don't know maybe spending the whole day with a beautiful women like me, and also getting to see me in all those bikinis that I have to wear for every shoot." replied Mira with a sly grin on her face watching to see what his reaction would be.

"I guess it wouldn't have been that bad." replied Natsu as he had a faint blush.

"Really, so you wouldn't mind doing one with me now?" asked Mira as she leaned in on him, pushing her ample chest onto his left side.

Natsu gulped and then replied "Sure Mira, why not it sounds like it could be fun."

"Get a room you two." said Jet with a huge grin on his face, that only got bigger as the two quickly separated themselves for one another.

"Well are there any other reasons for the new look." asked Levy after giggling at the two's reaction to Jet's comment.

"Well I am trying to be a new and better Natsu, so with that I thought I might as well have a new look. I went to a store looking for something different and this outfit looked like it was completely different than my normal, while also being totally badass." replied Natsu.

"You definitely look good in it Natsu, and I see that you have multiple colors." said Cana while checking him out.

"Thanks Cana, I actually have two other colors than the ones you have already seen." stated Natsu giving Cana a warm smile.

"Really what colors Natsu?" asked Cana trying to think of which ones would look good on him.

"Red and Black." replied Wendy with a small smile, since she knew that before everybody else except for Asuka.

"Yea I can see that." said Cana while nodding her head in agreement with what her mind said it would look like.

"So Natsu who are you looking for?" asked Jet.

"Sorry Jet I can't tell you that, I wasn't lying in the article, saying that I didn't want to drag any of you guys into this." said Natsu.

"Come on Natsu we're family, we would be willing to help no matter how dangerous it gets." replied Jet.

"That's the problem Jet and why I have to do this alone, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if any of you got hurt because of my stupid quest." answered Natsu with his serious face meaning that this topic was done.

"Okay then, can you tell us what is happening in roughly two months?" asked Cana.

"Well can you all keep a secret?" asked Natsu looking at all of them shaking their heads.

"This also means that you can't tell anyone else in the guild, if I tell you." said Natsu once again getting all of them to agree to it.

"Here it is guys; I am launching my own clothing line that looks like my new outfit. They are going to be sold at the Lone Tailor in Hargeon, which is actually the place that made all of my outfits." said Natsu, and looking at all of them at the table.

"Wow that was literally the last thing I would have guessed." said Jet.

"It is actually not a bad idea, I almost did something similar." stated Mira.

"I am all for it if it means that there will be more guys looking as good as you do right now." said Cana giving Natsu a sexy smile, that caused Mira to glare at her.

"Are they only going to be in the colors that you wear?" asked Wendy.

"Nope, they are going to be in all sorts of colors as far as I know." answered Natsu.

"So what prompted you to do this?" asked Levy.

"Well since I am now an independent mage, who knows when I will get good paying jobs so I thought why not have this as a second source of income if I ever need some jewels." replied Natsu with a sheepish grin.

"But wait, if you are concerned about jewels than why did you give away so many expensive things, not to mention all those jewels?" asked Bisca now feeling bad at how much Natsu had given them.

"I am actually not concerned with jewels at all I still have plenty, but it never hurts to have them because you never know when you might need them." answered Natsu with a big grin.

"That is surprising mature of you Natsu." said Cana.

"Hey I have always been mature Cana, it was just always more fun to not be." replied Natsu with a smirk.

"So Natsu do you want to see how far I have gotten with my training?" asked Wendy.

"Definitely Wendy, let's go out back." said Natsu while getting up and heading out back.

"Can we come and watch?" asked Mira looking at both of them.

"Of course you guys can." replied Wendy as she got up and followed Natsu. The rest then got up and followed them outside to watch and see what Wendy has been doing for the pass month and a half.

"Alright Wendy give me your best shot." said Natsu now only wearing his suit minus the blazer.

"Here I come, Natsu, **SKY DRAGON'S IRON FIST!** " shouted Wendy as she launched herself at Natsu and the two of them started their sparing match. They then went at it for the next half hour and everyone except for Romeo and exceeds were impressed with how much Wendy had improved in her offensive abilities.

"Wow Wendy you seem to have all of them down already, and it appears that you have been also working on your speed and endurance as well." praised Natsu with a huge grin on his face.

"Thanks Natsu, but I still could barely land any hits on you Natsu." replied Wendy disappointed that she could barely touch him.

"Yea but I have so many years of experience on you Wendy, I am confident that if you faced me when I was your age you would have wiped the floor with me." said Natsu trying to make sure Wendy knew that she was really strong for her age.

"Really Natsu, you aren't lying to try and make me feel better?" asked Wendy.

"Nope, and if you don't believe me ask Mira." said Natsu as he pointed at Mira who watched the whole fight.

"He isn't lying Wendy, I would even go so far as to say that you probably could have beaten me and Erza." said Mira with her normal smile before Wendy could even ask her.

"Really, I can't believe that." stated Wendy.

"Well it makes sense; you have been trying this whole time to keep up with all of us even though we are so much older than you. Of course you would become stronger, not to mention all of the battles you have been in." replied Natsu.

"Thanks Natsu and Mira." said Wendy now blushing at the compliments that they gave her.

"So Mira, did it work?" asked Natsu smiling at her.

"Yes it did Natsu." replied Mira with a sly grin.

"Well are you ever going to show me?" asked Natsu starting to get anxious.

"I don't know if I should with everyone here." said Mira with a small blush.

"Come on Mira, I bet they would all love to see it." encouraged Natsu with a grin.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" asked Levy.

"I don't know but it sounds personal almost at an intimate level." said Cana giving Mira and Natsu as suggestive wink.

"It isn't anything like that Cana, come on there's kids around." replied Mira quickly.

"But if there weren't then it might be?" asked Cana with a huge grin on her face.

"That isn't what I meant Cana and you know it." shouted Mira starting to blush.

"Your face says otherwise Mira." replied Cana while starting to laugh her ass off.

"I don't know what you are talking about Cana." said Mira as she tried to hide her blush.

"So are you going to show me Mira, I really want to see it." said Natsu and looked like he was about to start begging her for it.

"Fine since it seems like you really want to see it Natsu." replied Mira as she walked away from the group.

 **"DEMON SOUL: DRAGON!"** shouted Mira as she was then covered in black fire, and when it subsided they were all shocked by her appearance. She was now covered in black scales over most of her body except for her thighs and biceps that were still her normal skin, while her chest and stomach were covered in white scales that matched her hair. Her hands and feet where both looking like that of a dragon with white claws, but that wasn't all she now had a few additions to her normal body. She now had black horns coming out of the side of her head sticking out of her hair; she also sprouted the wings and a tail of a dragon. The part of the wings that weren't bones were white as was the underside of her tail.

"So how do I look?" asked Mira and smiled exposing Fangs that looked similar to Natsu's and the other dragon slayers.

"You look great." said Natsu with a huge grin on his face; think that she looked more than great she looked beautiful.

"You look like you are half dragon." replied Wendy not being able to look away from Mira.

"How is this possible?" asked Levy.

"Natsu gave me a dragon soul." replied Mira once again smiling and showing off her new fangs.

"You had a dragon soul?" asked Cana wondering how he came into possession of such a thing.

"Yep but I am not telling you guys how I got it." declared Natsu while still checking Mira out in her new form, which she definitely noticed which caused her to keep smiling.

"So what can you do in that form?" asked Wendy.

"Pretty much all of the moves that you just did, but not as strong since I am not a dragon or a dragon slayer, and it seems that the attacks are all black fire." answered Mira.

"I am pretty sure that is demon fire and the color is just black." said Natsu with a small smirk.

"That does make sense, since I am using my demon magic." said Mira noticing that Natsu started to sniff the air.

"Well I would love to test it out but I have to be going." replied Natsu.

"What, why so suddenly Natsu?" asked Wendy.

"Things came up." replied Natsu nervously while scratching the back of his head.

"Natsu what's going on?" asked Mira as she turned back to normal, while Natsu was putting on the other parts of his outfit.

"Like I said something came up, but don't worry I will be back." replied Natsu with a wink and then took off into the woods.

"Well that was strange." stated Levy.

"Yea it was, and crap I forgot to ask him were did he get that booze he gave Gildarts." said Cana as she face palmed herself.

"Well might as well head back to the guild and tell the rest that he's gone now." said Mira as she headed to the guild. They all followed her, and then told the rest of the guild that Natsu left but said that he would visit again, which cheered everyone back up. The discussion of the guild for the next fifteen minutes was about Natsu and how much he had actually changed in such a short time, but this was cut short as Team Natsu came bursting through the doors.

"Where is he, where's Natsu." shouted all of them looking around for the dragon slayer.

"Oh now it makes sense." said Cana.

"Yeah it is pretty obvious now, isn't it." replied Levy shaking her head now having a sad smile on her face.

"What are you two talking about, and where is Natsu, we heard that he was in town?" asked Erza. She looked at everyone and they all just looked away and didn't answer her question.

"Why isn't anyone answering us?" asked Lucy looking around at everyone.

"That is because no one wants to tell you that Natsu left as soon as he realized that you guys were coming." answered Wendy, truly not caring that this would probably hurt them.

"You don't know that Wendy." denied Erza not wanting to believe it.

"Then how do you explain him being here since this morning, laughing and having fun with everyone even taking everyone out to eat? But then just fifteen minutes ago he stops and randomly says that he has to go because something came up." asked Wendy.

"It most have just been a coincidence, like he said something came up." replied Erza still in denial.

"Yeah that something was you guys coming back, and I don't have time to argue with someone who is in complete denial." said Wendy as she and the two exceeds left.

"She isn't right is she, this is her just still mad at us?" asked Erza looking at Grey and Lucy who both looked completely defeated after listening to Wendy, they both didn't say anything back to Erza.

"Sorry Erza, but Wendy is correct, I noticed Natsu starting to sniff the air before he randomly left." said Mira with a sad smile knowing that Erza was going to take this hard. Which she did because she just dropped her head and stood there not doing anything for a few minutes, until her head snapped back up and she had a furious facial expression.

"Why the hell didn't any of you call us, you all know that we were looking for him." screamed Erza, once again no one was brave enough to tell her why. Erza was not a fan of this so she then went towards the first person that she saw, who happened to be Droy, and was going to get her answers, but was stopped by Mira placing a hand on her shoulder.

"What Mira?" growled Erza.

"It was because I suggested that we shouldn't call you guys or Master." replied Mira.

"Why the hell did you do that Mira?" asked Erza still seething with anger.

"Because I knew that this would happen, if you guys came back." stated Mira glaring right back at Erza.

"What gives you the right to make that decision?" asked Erza ready to attack Mira.

"Nothing Erza, but what right do you have to deny everyone here time with Natsu?" asked Mira not backing down.

"I am not Mira!" exclaimed Erza.

"But you would have if we called you Erza, can't you see that?" asked Mira. Erza stood there and started to realize that what Wendy and Mira had just said must have been true, which hurt to accept but she had to, she couldn't keep denying it anymore. After coming to this conclusion Erza turned around with her head down and walked out of the guild without saying anything to anyone. The guild remained quiet for quite some time after Team Natsu left, Lucy and Grey had both slipped away before Erza asked why no one called them because they didn't need to even ask it, they knew the reason why.

"Well it seems like that will take a lot of time before they will even talk to each other." said Macao with a frown.

"It takes time to heal wounds that deep." said Wakaba also frowning.

"This probably means that he won't come back for the Grand Magic Games." stated Romeo.

"You're probably right on that Romeo. I really doubt that they will have patched things up by then, that is also not even counting that Master is probably in the same boat as them." said Mira not having the smile that she usually does.

"Well I just hope that he doesn't join a different guild." said Romeo.

"Yeah that would really suck." agreed his father.

"You don't think Natsu would do that to get back at them do you?" asked Cana.

"It's a possibility, but it doesn't seem like something he would do." said Wakaba.

"Yea Wakaba is right, Natsu definitely wouldn't do that." said Mira and then thought to herself at least I hope he wouldn't.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed it. Well I haven't really decided who Natsu is going to run into next so feel free to leave your suggestion. So as always feel free to leave a review.**

 **Until the Next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	20. Fun with Models

Chapter 20: Fun with Models

It had been a full month since Natsu visited Fairy Tail and for him at least nothing really noteworthy happened during that whole time. Running into your occasional dark mage who thought that he could make something of himself if they were able to take down the Salamander, but unfortunately they were all wimps so far. He even ran into a new Dark Guild that was harassing a village trying to make it theirs, but that was not to be since Natsu happened to be passing through. Once again Natsu was really disappointed since he didn't even have to use magic to take them on; yes they were that weak which made Natsu sick and tired of not having a good fight in forever. The other things that he kept on running into were bandits and all they were good for were to test out new moves, having no fear if they failed because come on they were bandits with no magic most of the time and the ones that did could barely use it.

But for some reason that Natsu could not fathom, the people at Sorcerer's Weekly felt that all of these things were noteworthy and would report them all. Natsu reasoned that it must be due to three month coverage of the Salamander and his exploits, and frankly he was now starting to regret saying that he was fine with it. Because he was now getting recognized way more than before and he could tell that people were starting to treat him differently, it wasn't like it was bad how they were now treating him, it was like they were treating him as if he was someone important or special. Which he really didn't feel like he deserved, on a different note Team Natsu was actually getting closer and closer each time that they tried to find him.

Natsu attributed it to the articles in Sorcerer's Weekly giving his location when he did something boring, he even started to smell and sense other people that he knew from other guilds. But Natsu decided that he really didn't want to meet with any of them knowing that they probably wanted to get him to join their guild just for the upcoming Grand magic games. He wanted to be mad at them for doing this, but he really couldn't blame any of them, because he was a wildcard that could really throw off any of the strategies that they had planned.

So during this past month when Natsu wasn't taking out some weak dark mages or bandits he devoted his time to training with his new powers trying to figure everything out about them. He did this because he had no leads at all, not even rumors of dragon sightings which were a favorite story to tell when someone was drunk, and right now his only goal was to find a dragon.

 **At the Magic Council building in the meeting room:**

"So what do we think about the current situation with the renowned Salamander?" asked the Chairman with a smile.

"I am actually completely surprised by how he has been acting of late." responded one of the councilmen.

"I know right, if you had told me that one of people that caused the old council so much grief would all of a sudden stop destroying everything like he was known for I would have laughed in your face." said another councilman.

"I attribute it to him no longer being a mage of Fairy Tail, the mages over there are always causing so much trouble." said a councilwoman.

"Yes but they have time and time again saved the day when Fiore needed them too, which is why the old Council didn't know how to handle them." replied the Chairman still smiling.

"I would actually like to point out that Fairy Tail has also toned down their destructive tendencies since the departure of Natsu Dragneel." inputted a different councilwoman.

"Yes but wouldn't that all be attributed to Salamander not being there?" asked a councilman.

"No we already took that into account, it seems that some of their other destructive members have toned it down as well." she explained.

"Who are the ones that are no longer giving us a headache?" he asked her back.

"It would appear that his old team is no longer doing as much damage." she replied.

"That would probably be due to the fact that they are spending a lot of time trying to find Natsu and most likely try and bring him back, at least that is what our intel says anyway. If they do that then there is a good chance they will all go back to how they were before all of this happened." explained the Chairman.

"I know that we initially wanted Natsu Dragneel to go back to a guild, but it would appear that we might have been wrong about that. He seems to have become a more matured mage because of this, and I think that our idea about getting him to work with us is the best option for multiple reasons." said a councilman.

"I agree, at first I thought that him working for us was the dumbest idea every considering how he use to act. But with how he is now I completely agree on us doing it." said a different councilman.

"Yes but what job will we be offering him?" asked a councilwomen.

"I have an idea, which I think he would actually be okay with doing." stated a councilman.

"And what would that be?" she asked him while raising an eyebrow at him.

"He would become the Council's Enforcer." replied the councilman with a big grin.

"And what would be his duties as the Enforcer of this Council?" asked the Chairman having an idea where the councilman was going with this.

"Well we all know how hard it is to keep the guilds in line, especially if they have a mage that is part of the Ten Wizard Saints, or ones that are at their level of power. So my suggestion would be that we would send Salamander to any guild that is in trouble, to get them to comply to our wishes with the permission to use force if necessary which I have a feeling that he will be more than happy to do. Since he seems to always be looking for the next big fight to test himself, and this would give him a legitimate reason to fight some tough opponents from legal guilds." explained the council man.

"That is indeed a really good idea." replied a different councilman.

"That could possibly solve two problems at the same time." said a councilwoman with a big grin on her face.

"Indeed it would, but I would also like to add into his Job description that he will be used in dispatching of Dark Guilds, to make sure that he still remains popular to the public and even to the mages at legal guilds. We don't want to turn him into a pariah that is hated, when he could become the new face of the council which would definitely gain us a lot of favor that we need. Especially since the last two councils failed so horribly, now causing most to lose faith in our ability to maintain order." explained the Chairman with a smile, since he pretty much had the same idea as the councilman but wanted to use Natsu more than a weapon. If they were going to use Natsu Dragneel he was going to be dam sure that they get the most out of him.

"That is very smart Chairman, I didn't even think about it that way, we can get so much more out of him than just keeping guilds inline." replied the councilman that came up with the idea of making Natsu the Enforcer.

"Yes but wouldn't it be too risky to send him after Dark Guilds by himself, since we want him to be the face of the Council?" asked a councilwomen.

"You are correct, which is why he will have a regimen of Rune Knights and someone that he knows already in charge of them for whenever he needs back up." replied the Chairman.

"But I thought you said that Salamander wouldn't want to be with a people, or be in charge of Rune Knights?" asked a random councilman.

"I did say that, but that was when the suggestion was to make him a commander of Rune Knights. And yes he probably won't want to be in charge of a regimen of Rune Knights which is why we will give him a commander that he is in charge of. As for wanting to be alone, if I have learned anything about Natsu Dragneel, it is that he is a lot smarter than everyone gives him credit. Which means that he isn't dumb enough to think that he can always take on Dark Guilds by himself like he did earlier this month." explained the Chairman with a confident grin.

"It is clear that you have thought this through Chairman, and I agree with your assessment of this situation and think that we should move forward with this plan." replied a councilman getting nods of agreement form the rest except for one, which then asked a question.

"I have two questions about this plan, and my first one is who did you have planned to be the commander of this regimen of Rune Knights that Salamander knows and would trust?" asked the councilwomen.

"That would be Doranbolt, he has had a few interactions with Natsu Dragneel and I am confident that they would hit it off, so what is your next question?" replied the Chairman.

"My second question is how are we going to get into contact with Salamander, because if I have heard correctly, everyone is looking for him and not having very good luck at it?" she asked wanting to know the solution to this.

"Simple, instead of looking for where he is at, I had people start looking for where he was going to be and when. It just so happens that my informants have told me that he will be in Hargeon and Magnolia in half a month. So we will wait for him to come to us and then propose this proposition to him, which I have a feeling he will except." explained the Chairman.

"That was very smart of you Chairman, I now am completely on board with this plan." she stated.

"Good to hear, are there any objections to making Natsu Dragneel, also known as the Salamander, the Enforcer of the Council?" asked the Chairman while looking around for any objections, which there was none.

"Then it seems that this meeting is adjourned, hopefully in a month the Enforcement division of the Council will be up and running." stated the Chairman as the meeting was now ending.

"I truly hope that you accept our offer Natsu, it will make everything a lot easier." said the Chairman to himself as he left the meeting chamber.

 **At a photoshoot in Crocus for Sorcerer's Weekly:**

"Okay explain to me why I am doing this again?" asked Natsu while standing in black and red swim trunks that had flames on them, which made him think that it was too predictable that they would want him to wear a pair like these.

"Simple Natsu, because you just wanted to look at me while I am in just my bikini." replied Mira coming out of a changing station and giving Natsu a sly smile and a wink, which caused Natsu to have a faint blush.

"Yea, but that couldn't have been the only reason." stated Natsu as he looked at Mira's bikini, noticing that it was white with red flames on it.

"Well you did also say a month ago that you would do this with me." answered Mira coming up to him and grabbing his arm.

"Yea I guess, but, never mind let's just get this over with." stated Natsu.

"Oh don't be that way Natsu, it will be fun I promise. If not then I will owe you one." replied Mira as she drug him to where the shoot was at.

"Man I thought that we were actually going to go to a beach for this." said Natsu noticing that they were still in the building and doing the shoot at a fake beach that they made for it.

"Nope, this way the lighting can remain perfect all day long." replied Mira as they were then instructed on what to do. They did about an hour of pictures and were then asked a question that Mira and Natsu didn't see coming.

"Mira and Natsu, you two wouldn't mind if we brought in another model would you?" asked the photographer.

"I don't mind." stated Natsu really not caring about it since he could see how happy Mira was because of him doing this with her.

"I really don't care either." replied Mira, soon regretting what she just said.

"Good to hear, you can come out now Jenny." said the photographer as Jenny came into the room.

"Hello Natsu it's good to see you again, oh and hey Mira." said Jenny with a sweet smile directed at Natsu and then a glare sent towards Mira.

"Hello Jenny what caused you to be in the area?" asked Mira with a fake smile.

"Oh I just heard that the one and only Salamander was going to be here doing a photoshoot, and couldn't pass up to being in some photos with the most popular mage in Fiore, now could I?" said Jenny also having a fake smile while talking to Mira.

"I guess you couldn't." replied Mira while still smiling that fake smile of hers.

"Hey I am not that popular." said Natsu while scratching the back of his head.

"Oh Natsu that is so sweet, you don't even know that you have become the most talked about mage in Fiore." said Jenny coming up right next to Natsu.

"Why would I be that popular, I only left Fairy Tail and am now wandering around doing my own thing?" asked Natsu wondering if it was because of those dam Grand Magic Games coming up.

"Well that is true but you haven't joined another guild which is unheard of. Also everyone wants to know which guild you will eventually end up at, not to mention that you did just tell pretty much everyone your life story or everyone will soon know once all of the articles are done." explained Jenny as she grabbed his right arm and hugged it.

"Sorry Jenny but that isn't all there is to me, and why are you hugging my arm?" asked Natsu.

"Good to know that you still have some surprises, and did you forget that we are doing a photoshoot." replied Jenny as she took him to his correct spot.

"Isn't Mira going to be part of these photos?" asked Natsu seeing Mira at the side glaring at him and Jenny.

"Sorry Natsu, but right now the photos that we want are of just you and Jenny, we will do some group ones after this. Maybe even some other ones that are not of swim wear if you guys are still up for it." replied the photographer as he continued to take pictures.

"Come on Natsu it will be more fun this way." whispered Jenny into his ear.

"I don't know about that Jenny." replied Natsu not liking the look Mira had on her face.

"Come on, trust me Natsu I will be so much more fun than her." said Jenny as she started to make all of their poses just a little more provocative, which the photographer loved while also making Mira seethe with anger.

"Good Jenny keep that up, Natsu we are going to need you to try and match Jenny here." said the photographer wanting to get more of this.

"I don't know if I will be able to but I can try." responded Natsu nervously while looking at Mira, who just nodded her head at him and smiling. While she thought to herself that this meant war Jenny, and there was no way she was going to lose to that blonde bimbo.

So for the next hour Natsu and Jenny had their photoshoot, which Natsu was not the happiest doing since the whole time Mira was sending death glares at Jenny, when she thought Natsu couldn't see. But now it was over and he thought that things were going to go back to normal, but man was he so wrong.

"Okay that's enough of just you two, Mira would you mind joining them?" asked the photographer.

"It would be my pleasure." said Mira and strode right up them and then grabbed Natsu from Jenny and started to do her own provocative poses with Jenny just staring at them. Not believing that Mira would be able to match her if not surpasses her with those poses that she was now doing with Natsu.

"Come on Jenny, you are supposed to be in these photos as well." stated the photographer with a huge grin knowing that this was going to turn into probably his best photo shoots, as long as these two girls kept one upping each other.

"Sorry about that." said Jenny as she then got into the photos. Mira and Jenny kept going back and forth trying to beat the other one while poor Natsu was in the middle of it. Well actually it isn't poor Natsu since most men would kill to be fought over by these two beauties and take such provocative photos with both of them.

Natsu would never admit it to anyone else but he actually enjoyed it, like any straight man would in his position. He didn't complain once during the whole hour that they had group photos together, once it was done he was glad that this whole thing was done and wanted to leave, but once again he was wrong.

"So that is enough swimsuit shots, would you guys mind if we did some other ones?" asked the photographer knowing that the two women still wanted to prove which one was better, so it didn't really matter if Natsu didn't want to.

"Well I think that I am done." said Natsu.

"Sorry, what Natsu meant to say was that we would love too." said Mira glaring a Jenny.

"Good to hear because I am also up for some more photos." said Jenny also glaring at Mira.

"Good to hear, I was thinking that we would go for an elegant look, so Natsu I want you to wear one of your new outfits and they will pick the color for you. Mira and Jenny you will both be able to choose your own outfit and what color Natsu will wear so that they look good together." explained the photographer.

"Wait does that mean I have to do an individual shoot with each of them?" asked Natsu.

"Yes Natsu, will that be a problem?" asked the photographer, Natsu then notice that both Jenny and Mira were glaring at him just daring him to say that it was.

"Nope not at all, it will make this even better." answered Natsu once again wondering how he got into this situation.

At least for these photoshoots Mira and Jenny both didn't do things as provacative as they did during the swimsuit section. Jenny choose for Natsu to wear his plan white suit with his black coat and had him not wearing a hat, while she was wore a very sleek slim fitting white dress that was strapless and had a slit on the side that went almost all the way up to her waist. This allowed her to show off a lot of her leg since the dress went all the way down to her ankles, the rest of the dress had a few frills here and there, which in Natsu's opinion somewhat made it look like a wedding dress.

Mira on the other hand had Natsu wear his black outfit with pinstripes and everything else. While she wore black strapless cocktail dress that only went halfway down her thigh, her accessories were the diamond necklace and earrings that Natsu gave to her when he left Fairy Tail. She also had on the bracelet that she was now always seen wearing, overall it was a very nice outfit but not as flashy or as bold as Jenny's. Since Jenny and Natsu went first Jenny was now watching Mira and Natsu do theirs, confident that she won this round but something told her otherwise and that was the confident smirk that Mira would occasionally flash her.

"All right I think that will be enough you three did great." said the photographer with a big smile, because all of the great photos they took. He knew that the photos alone could sell the magazine, even without the speculative story that was sure to go along with it.

"Are you sure, because I actually have a surprise that I wouldn't mind having you take pictures of." responded Mira with her confident smirk on her face.

"Oh I would love to Mira, and what would this surprise be?" asked the photographer who stopped putting away his things.

"Nothing much just a new take over that Natsu gave to me before he left Fairy Tail." replied Mira knowing that this was going to seal her victory.

"Now you have my complete attention Mira." said the photographer excitedly and also making note that Natsu gave it to her.

"Well here I go, and Natsu you are still going to take photos with me." stated Mira not giving him an option to be done. Mira then shouted " **DEMON SOUL: DRAGON!** " and transformed into her human slash dragon hybrid completely shocking everyone watching. They then proceeded on with taking pictures and right when they were almost done Mira did one more thing to seal her victory.

While still in dragon form she kissed Natsu, which he was not expecting at all but then soon started to reciprocate until they were now in a full blown make out session in front of a camera. They both just lost themselves in that kiss, and once they both stopped for air they realized that the photographer was taking pictures the whole time. Natsu also noticed that Mira was back into her normal form and must have changed back during their kiss.

"Well that was completely unexpected, anyways thanks for all of the pictures you three." said the photographer as he then started to pack his things again.

"So what was that for Mira?" asked Natsu wondering if Mira only did it because of Jenny being there.

"I thought that it would be the perfect way end the photoshoot and will definitely help them sell magazines. I also thought that it would help you not have as many crazy fan girls coming after you since, like Jenny said earlier, you are one of the most popular mages now." replied Mira still afraid to tell Natsu how she felt about him and that she had wanted to do that for a really long time now. But Mira rationalizing that she didn't tell him now about her feelings because Natsu would be leaving again soon.

"Oh, thanks then I guess Mira." replied Natsu having a slightly hurt expression on his face for a second, but replaced it with his normal one. Jenny this whole time was standing there not believing what she just saw, but then remember that she had another reason to be here other than trying to get Natsu and that was to invite him back to the Blue Pegasus.

Jenny cleared her throat and then asked "I hope that I am not interrupting something here but Natsu, Master Bob wanted me to invite you to our guild if I ever happened to run into you."

"Nope Jenny you aren't interrupting anything, I am going to get changed into my normal clothes." said Mira quickly and left before she embarrassed herself or said something that she might regret. Once again Natsu felt kind of hurt by Mira's words taking this as a sign that she probably just wanted to remain friends with him, which he could understand considering that he doesn't even know where he will be in two months.

"You know what Jenny that sounds like a great idea, I would love to come and visit you guys." replied Natsu giving her his big grin.

"Really that will be awesome, if you want Natsu you can come back with me right now." said Jenny surprised that he was so willing to come back to Blue Pegasus.

"I would really love to Jenny, but I assume that you know that I hate transportation right?" asked Natsu giving her his normal grin.

"Yes Natsu, I think I and almost all of Fiore knows that." stated Jenny while chuckling.

"Well than you know that I don't plan on using any of it, but if you take this lacrima with you and destroy it somewhere that doesn't matter if there's fire then I will be able be there right after you do that." said Natsu as he handed her an orange lacrima that looked like it had fire inside of it.

"Really all I have to do is destroy this and then you will appear at our guild?" asked Jenny as she inspected the lacrima given to her.

"Yep, but remember there will be fire so stand back. Oh and Jenny how long will it take you to get back to your guild so I have a rough estimation on when you are going to destroy that?" asked Natsu as he pointed to the lacrima in her hands.

"It's about an eighteen hour train ride so it will be around noon tomorrow." replied Jenny.

"Alright I will see you and the rest of Blue Pegasus then, bye for now Jenny." said Natsu as he left the room that they were in, just as someone else came in from another door.

"Hi Jenny, have you seen Natsu?" asked Mira looking around for the dragon slayer.

"He just left." replied Jenny with a smirk while pointing at the door that Natsu just departed through.

"What, he left without me?" asked Mira not believing that Natsu would do this again to her.

"Yes, it would seem that there happens to be trouble in paradise." said Jenny still smirking at Mira.

"Just shut up Jenny." spat Mira now being able to deal with Jenny right now.

"Settle down Mira, it was just a small joke." replied Jenny seeing how upset Mira is now.

"Well it wasn't fun in the slightest." said Mira as she sat down in a chair and started to think to herself. Was it because I said those things about the kiss and he was hurt by it, or does he just not care about me as much as I thought he did. These were the kind of thoughts that were going through Mira's head right now, also wondering if Natsu might not come back to Fairy Tail in half a month like they planned because of this.

"Mira, don't take it too hard Natsu just probably had things that he wanted to do today and we already delayed him by doing all of those extra shoots." said Jenny trying to cheer up Mira, who if anybody saw her right now would know that she was in pain.

"Yea I guess you are probably right Jenny, he does have his own life now." said Mira with a frown.

"Well it was fun doing this photoshoot together; we should do another one sometime. Unfortunately I have to leave so I can catch the train that heads to Blue Pegasus in fifteen minutes otherwise I will have to wait around for another three hours." said Jenny while giving Mira a small smile and a pat on the shoulder.

"Yea we should and you better hurry then, I don't want you to miss your train. So see you later Jenny." said Mira smiling up at Jenny.

"Okay then, until we meet again Mira." said Jenny as she went to the door that Natsu excited through. Just as she went to open it, it opened and standing there was Natsu still in his black outfit.

"Hey Jenny I thought that you would have left by now?" asked Natsu looking at her.

"I am actually doing that right now, see you later Natsu." said Jenny as she went past him.

"Goodbye Jenny." said Natsu as he went in and saw Mira sitting on a chair with her head in her hands.

"So what do you want to do now Mira?" asked Natsu with his usual grin plastered to his face. His voice apparently broke Mira out of her thoughts and finally realized that Natsu was standing in front of her.

"I thought that you left without talking to me again." said Mira as she jumped onto him and hugging him with all her might and trying to hold back her tears.

"Hey Mira it's okay, I only stepped out to talk with Jason for a few moments, he had a few follow up questions." explained Natsu while patting Mira on the back.

"Oh that makes sense, I just thought that you might be mad at me and decided to leave." said Mira snuggling into his chest and not wanting be away from it.

"Why would I be mad at you Mira?" asked Natsu.

"Never mind Natsu, it was just a foolish thought I had." answered Mira.

"Yea it was Mira, I could never be mad at you." said Natsu as he hugged her a little tighter so that she knew he meant it.

"I bet you said those same words to your old team, but now look at you guys, you won't even talk with them." said Mira fearing that it might happen to her as well.

"That isn't true Mira, I never once said that to them because they aren't like you, which makes what happened between me and them completely different. You are one of the most important people in my life Mira, I couldn't lose you, if that happened I really don't know what would happen to me." said Natsu trying to reassure Mira that it would never happen to her.

"I feel the same way about you Natsu, which is why this is so hard with you not being in Fairy Tail anymore." replied Mira looking up at him.

"I know Mira, and I am sorry that I am putting you through this, but you know that I can't come back at least for a while." said Natsu.

"Yea I know, but could you try and patch things up with Master and your old team so that you could visit the guild more often?" asked Mira looking up at him expectantly.

"Sorry Mira, but I still need time. Anything nice that I would say to them would be a lie and that is if I could even say anything nice, it's more likely that I would actually make matters worse. And I assume that you don't want that Mira?" said Natsu hopping that she understood why he can't yet.

"Yes Natsu I definitely don't want that, but all they want to do is apologize Natsu." explained Mira.

"I know Mira, but it is kind of too late for that, the damage is done and hearing their apology won't help anything. I know that looking back at everything they are sorry but it really shouldn't have taken this drastic of a move to get them to realize this." said Natsu not relenting to Mira and her requests.

"But Natsu, this is hurting them more than you know they are barely smiling anymore." said Mira.

"Mira let's drop this conversation, I can already tell that it will end badly." suggested Natsu.

"No Natsu, this isn't like you to let someone suffer like this." replied Mira, making Natsu let out a sigh and stop hugging her.

"Yes Mira, that wasn't like the old me, but the me right now couldn't care less about how bad they feel." stated Natsu.

"You don't mean that Natsu." said Mira in disbelief at what she just heard from him.

"Oh but I do Mira, why should I care that they are suffering over something so trivial. Especially since they were the cause of a lot of the pain and suffering that I went through while at Fairy Tail. Did they ever help me Mira? No they never noticed and continued on like normal which meant that there was more stuff that I had to deal with, and this went on for years not a couple of Months Mira. So maybe after they have felt the same things that I have then maybe I will patch things up with them, but that will take a lot longer than a few more months, it might take years. But by that time I can guarantee you that they will have moved on and no longer feel guilty just like they moved on when they had no idea how much they were hurting me." said Natsu now with an angry expression on his face.

"That can't be true Natsu, it sounds like you want them to suffer." said Mira shaking her head back and forth.

"See this is why I didn't want to continue on with this topic." said Natsu turning away from her.

"Natsu just tell me that you don't actually want them to suffer." said Mira waiting for him to say that back to her.

"Sorry Mira but I can't that would be lying to you and I won't do that to you." said Natsu still with his back to her.

"What happened to you Natsu, you are the kindest person that I know, you would never want this to happen to your friends and family." stated Mira.

"Did you ever think Mira that I might no longer consider them to fall under either of those categories anymore." replied Natsu earning a gasp of shock from Mira.

"Natsu this is not the time to be making terrible jokes." said Mira.

"I am not joking Mira, and being my friend and family are things that you have to earn and then keep. They did at one point earn them, but now they have lost them and are no longer either of those to me anymore. I once believed that if you became my friend, and especially if you became part of my family, that it was something that would last a life time but they proved me wrong on that." said Natsu with his head down.

"Natsu please don't say that about them, they are still both your friend and family, just give it some more time and you will agree with me." said Mira looking at his back waiting for his response.

"No Mira I don't think that I will, actually thinking about it makes me pretty confident that I won't ever see them as family again, friends maybe given enough time. But seeing them as family again is highly unlikely, because tell me Mira what type of family continues to treat one of their members the way they always treated me?" asked Natsu turning around and looking at Mira, showing her how pissed off he was about all of this.

"Yes Natsu, they were wrong to treat you so poorly, but it was a mistake and family forgives each other when they make mistakes." stated Mira a little scared at how pissed Natsu was.

"Yes Mira that is what family does, and is what I did over and over for years. No one makes that many of the same mistakes Mira, kind of makes me think that they knew how much it hurt me and just didn't care. Thinking, oh it's just Natsu, give him a day and he will be back to his cheery self, ready to once again put his life on the line for the guild that treats him like a dog. I bet that is actually what they said that night after I stormed out of the guild, during the results of the S-Class exams, didn't they Mira?" asked Natsu glaring at her, demanding that she answer his question.

"Yes they did Natsu, but that is because you are so good at hiding your true emotions so they didn't know how much pain you were actually in." replied Mira with her head down not wanting to look him in the eyes.

"There is no way that I am that good, even if I am it still doesn't excuse them for what they repetitively kept doing to me. Besides Mira you were able to see that I was hurting after the constant comments they would say about me, which means they should have been able to see it as well." reasoned Natsu in a calmer voice than before.

"That's unfair Natsu, to compare them to me." said Mira not actually being able to counter that they still should have seen it, because they really should have because it became more and more obvious as time passed on.

"How so Mira, they were both my family and friends just like you are, but you noticed and they didn't which is why you are still both of those while they are no longer." stated Natsu.

"But it's just different Natsu, we have always been close." said Mira trying to come up with a good explanation.

"Yes but I should have actually been closer to them Mira, we were all on the same team together for years and Master Makarov let's just both agree that there is absolutely no acceptable excuses for him." replied Natsu.

"Yes you have a good point there, but that still doesn't mean you should no longer consider them your family and friends Natsu." said Mira still trying to bring Natsu back to how he was before.

"Then when Mira, when do get to classify someone as no longer being your friend of family? Do I have to actually wait until I die protecting them like I probably should have on the many times that I risked my life for them? Also Mira why are you even defending them?" asked Natsu in rapid succession.

"I don't know Natsu, and you definitely don't have to die for it. And I am not defending them, I am just trying to get it so that things can go back to how they were." answered Mira in a harsh tone, hoping that Natsu will listen to her.

"Mira you have totally been defending them, constantly coming up with excuses for them and trying to just get me to forgive them, when I have every right to not forgive them until they have earned it." replied Natsu.

"How are they supposed to earn your forgiveness if you won't even talk with them?" asked Mira getting mad at how unreasonable Natsu was being here.

"I don't know maybe through their actions Mira, because as I said before their apologies mean nothing to me. Words are so easy to fake, so much so that people will even start tricking themselves into believing their own lies. Which is why I have always put forth my whole heart in the deeds that I have done while at Fairy Tail, so much so that apparently Master Makarov became ignorant and thought that I would be there no matter what happened under his watch." replied Natsu.

"So what actions do they need to do, in order to make up for this, so that things can once again go back to how they were?" asked Mira wanting to fix this situation.

"Well going back in time would probably be the only way to truly make things go back to how they were." answered Natsu.

"Quit joking around Natsu." said Mira irritated that he could joke at such a serious time.

"Once again Mira I am not joking, do you hear me laughing or chuckling? I didn't think so, and what I meant by that last statement Mira is that there is absolutely no way for us to ever go back to how the way things were. That ship has sailed a long time ago, and for what they can do, that is up to them and if it happens to be good enough then we might become friends again." said Natsu with an expressionless face.

"But we have to be able to go back to how it was Natsu, everything was better then." said Mira.

"How far back are you talking about Mira, because it would have to be pretty far back to be before how people treated me just a few months ago? Or do you just want to go back to when I just sucked it up and tried to not let their comments get to me, is that what you want Mira when I faked being happy half of the time?" asked Natsu really wanting to know what magical time she was referring to.

"No Natsu I didn't mean it that way, I meant those times when we were all happy together and a family. But this time they wouldn't be so hurtful without knowing it and you would get the respect that you deserve." replied Mira.

"If only that were possible Mira." said Natsu.

"It's possible Natsu, I know it is, it just has to be." said Mira.

"Sorry Mira but it isn't, the world doesn't work that way, and just because you want something really badly doesn't mean that it's possible. Because if that were true then Igneel would have never left me, and he damn for sure would not have died right in front of me when we finally had just found each other." said Natsu but turned into a shout when speaking about Igneel.

"I am sorry about that Natsu, but I have to be able to believe that nothing is impossible and I thought that you believed that to?" said Mira sad that Natsu still had trouble dealing with Igneels death.

"I used to Mira, that is until the two things that I strived for the most in life were both taken away from me right when I should have had them. The first one was Igneel and the second one was of course not being promoted when absolutely everyone knows that I should have. I mean come on, I bet I could walk into any guild except for Fairy Tail and instantly become an S-Class wizard." explained Natsu.

"I really didn't know that becoming S-Class meant that much to you Natsu." said Mira.

"It didn't, not until after I lost my only other goal which was finding Igneel. I knew I didn't want to have this conversation with you Mira, all I initially wanted to do was spend the rest of the day doing what you wanted, but now I just need to be alone." said Natsu with his head down.

"We can still do that Natsu." said Mira, now truly regretting that she forced this conversation, since it sounded like all Natsu wanted to do was spend time with her. Which is exactly what she wanted to do with him, but no she just had to try and fix things which now seem to have only gotten worse. Or a better way to put that is she finally knows how bad things are.

"No we can't Mira, we have said stuff that can't be taken back and are bound to come back up again. Meaning that we would once again start arguing and I just can't deal with that right now." said Natsu looking away from her.

"I promise Natsu to not talk about any of the things that we were just discussing. So can we please do what you were originally planning to do?" asked Mira hoping to still salvage the evening.

"Sorry Mira, but I don't know if I will be able to, and like I said before I need some alone time. So I guess this is goodbye for now Mira." said Natsu as he left the room not looking back at Mira once.

"Natsu, please wait." shouted Mira as she chased after him. Once she got into the halls it was too late he was already gone, causing Mira to drop to the floor in sadness. Now thinking to herself that if Natsu wasn't mad at her before, he sure as hell was now. How could he not be, all he did was try and make her happy today, but no she just had to ruin everything and try and get him to mend his relationship with Master and his old team. Not only did she force him to have a conversation that he didn't want, the whole time during it she kept on arguing against him and siding with the others.

Mira also hated seeing that Natsu was actually taking this a lot harder than she originally thought. He now was no longer classifying some of his closest friends and family that way anymore, they now had become just people that he shared a lot of history with. Another disturbing change for Mira was how Natsu was now viewing things; it was no longer the brightest outcomes possible that he saw. What he now saw was a world that was harsh and would keep dishing out shit after shit to whoever you were not caring if you deserved it or not.

All of this pointed to Natsu becoming a colder individual than what he used to be, who would most likely not let many people close to him. This was the exact opposite of the old Natsu who would instantly become friends with people he just met, even becoming friends with old enemies. It also made Mira realize that the Natsu who lived to see everyone else smiling and having fun was long gone, because Natsu did that by always being goofy and trying to make the most out of life. Which now seemed like it was going to be a thing of the past that would probably only resurface at rare times.

All of the things that made Mira fall in love with Natsu seemed like they were slipping away and becoming things that would only appear every once in a while, not like they use to do on a regular basis. This mad Mira feel disgusted with herself, yes she was always there for him when he was down, but that was it. She never did anything to possibly fix it she just sat back and assumed that Natsu would be able to figure something out and power through like he always did when confronting a challenge.

Now thinking about it Mira, wondered why she was trying to help the ones that pushed Natsu into doing this. Why did she try and help the people that are causing Natsu to change into someone who won't brighten up a room by just walking in. They also caused him to have a complete one eighty view on the world, granted that wasn't just them, Natsu seeing his dad die right in front of him played a big role in that. She now saw what Natsu was trying to get through to her during their conversation, only if she had seen it sooner, and then she might still be with Natsu right now.

All of this caused Mira to become once again furious with Team Natsu and Master Makarov, because most of this was their entire fault. She knew that this anger for them would soon dissipate and she would still see them as family and friends, but that didn't mean that she couldn't inform them of her conversation that she just had with Natsu. I mean come on they always want to know everything that they can about Natsu, and she did try to help them and because of that Natsu was once again gone. So with that in mind Mira went back to Fairy Tail which would take only twelve hours meaning that she would arrive when the guild was opening.

 **The next morning at Fariy Tail:**

"Morning Mira how was the photoshoot?" asked Cana already starting the day with a barrel of booze.

"It went really well Cana, actually the photoshoot was one of the best I ever had. It's what happened afterwards that sucked." replied Mira getting a few other members of Fairy Tail interested with her story.

"What happened, did some weirdo come on to you and wouldn't take no for an answer?" asked Cana thinking that was the most likely situation to happen.

"No nothing like that at all, I just had a conversation with Natsu that went south really fast." answered Mira instantly getting the rest of the guilds attention.

"What was Natsu doing there?" asked Lucy perking up at the news of Natsu talking with Mira.

"He did the photoshoot with me and Jenny." replied Mira.

"He actually did a photoshoot?" asked Grey not believing that Natsu would ever do that.

"Yes he did Grey and he was surprisingly good at it, even after lasting more than seven hours." replied Mira.

"No wonder it was one of your best photoshoots." commented Cana while giving Mira a wink.

"So what happened afterwards to make it bad?" questioned Erza.

"I don't really know if I should tell you guys this, things kind of got out of hand faster than I would like to admit." said Mira with a sad frown.

"Come on Mira my dear, I think we would like to know." said Master Makarov.

"Are you guys sure, because once you hear this you can't pretend that you didn't hear it. It will stick with you forever, this is your final warning." said Mira as she looked at Team Natsu and then Master Makarov, all of them giving her the nod to go ahead.

"I am going to try and summarize this so that we can get through it all. So me and Natsu started to talk and I got us onto the topic of him patching thing up with you guys telling him that you were all really beating yourselves up about it, to which his response was along the lines of why should he care at all." said Mira.

"That doesn't sound like Natsu at all." pointed out Lucy.

"I know, which is why I told him that he didn't mean it to which he responded that he most certainly did, and that he would actually prefer it if you all felt the pain that he went through all of these years and that after that he might patch things up with you." said Mira.

"I don't believe that, it sounds nothing like what Natsu would do to his friends." stated Erza.

"Those are along the lines of what I said to him, to which he replied who said that I still see them as my friends and family. I of course told him to stop making terrible jokes, but he told me that he wasn't joking and that he no longer believes that friends and family last for life and that is something that you have to earn and keep. He then went on to say that you guys lost it by treating him the way that you did causing him pain repeatedly. I said that family forgives one another, to which he replied that is what he has been doing this whole time and that enough was enough, he also said that he started to think that you guys were maybe doing it on purpose, because no one can keep making the same mistakes over and over again that would cause someone you consider family pain." said Mira

"But we didn't know that your careless comments and actions were causing Natsu that much pain." said Lucy with a look of hurt on her face now knowing that Natsu no longer considered her a friend or part of his family.

"That's what I said, but he said that wasn't an excuse for people that were supposed to be close to him, considering that you have been on the same team for years. I said that it was because he got so good at hiding how he truly felt was why no one noticed, he countered that with the fact that I noticed and I hadn't spent nearly as much time with him as you have. We continued to argue about stuff, and he finally said that actions have always spoken louder than words for him and that if you guys do who knows what then he will once again consider you friends." said Mira.

"Wait just friends?" asked Erza with her eyes wide.

"Yea he told me that it was every unlikely that you guys would ever be considered family by him again. This caused us to start to argue when you can declare someone no longer being part of your family, he of course went overboard with his examples, but to wrap it up I then asked him what would you guys need to do to make this right and get things back to how they were. He said that the only way to get things back to how they were would be time travel, and he wasn't joking he said that there was no way for things to very go back to how they were and that you would have to come up with your own actions on how to make it up to him." said Mira with a frown

"That doesn't sound like Natsu at all, what happened to the, we can do anything that we want to attitude that he used to have?" asked Cana.

"I asked him what happened to cause him to start looking at everything differently. He said that since the two things that he strived for his whole life were taken from him, he realized that you aren't actually able to do whatever you want and always get what you want in life." said Mira still frowning.

"What were the two things taken from him?" asked Master Makarov fearing that he knew the answer to it.

"He told me that they were reuniting with Igneel, which only ended with him watching him die, and becoming an S-Class mage of Fairy Tail. When he said the second one I said that I didn't know that it meant so much for him to which he replied that it didn't until he lost his only other goal, so he then focused on that. He then went on to say that it was complete bull that he didn't get promoted because he could walk into any other guild and instantly become 's really not good Master, it seems that most of the things that he was once known for are now becoming things that will rarely be seen." said Mira now in tears, while Team Natsu looked like someone had killed their puppy while making them watch. In other words they looked terrible, the girls had tears in their eyes, they all looked extremely guilty and had the utmost self-loathing expressions that person could have, especially Grey.

"I am truly sorry Mira, this I all my fault. Unfortunately it would appear that there is nothing that we can do about this except for hope that he still is the same Natsu that we knew deep inside." replied Master Makarov

"That's your plan Master, just sit back and watch as one of the kindest and most loving person any of us have ever known becomes an emotionless husk of himself? All thanks to you guys being careless and not opening your goddam eyes and seeing what is in front of your faces!" shouted out Mira realizing that she still had some anger left in her.

"I am sorry Mira I know that I screwed up here." apologized Master Makarov with his head down in shame.

"That isn't good enough Master, like Natsu said words mean absolutely shit to me right now. Because of you one of the people that I cared most about in this world left and that will not stand!" declared Mira while still crying.

"You're right Mira, but I have no idea what I am supposed to do in this situation. I truly want to set things right, it pains me to see you like this and also having one of my children leave, and as you said possibly start getting rid of the things that truly made him one of a kind." replied Master Makarov while also crying.

"I don't know either Master, but once I figure something out I am expecting your full support." said Mira as she wiped her eyes clear of tears and then marched out of the guild so that she could be alone.

"I am so sorry Natsu, I never wanted to see you lose that positive outlook on life, much less be the one responsible for destroying it. I truly hope that you are able to find a new reason to get it back." said Master Makarov to himself as he looked at Team Natsu.

"She did warn you guys that you were not going to like it and that it would then be with you forever." said Cana noticing where the Master was looking.

"Yes she did, but we were just too excited to learn about him, and didn't think that he could still be hurting. Once again forgetting that Natsu is just another human like the rest of us, one of the reasons that this all started." said Master Makarov as he shook his head.

"So what are we going to do about them, it almost looks like they have completely lost their drive to keep going?" asked Cana while looking at Team Natsu.

"It's going to be tough, but hopefully we can show them that anything is still possible and that they just need to keep going forward." replied Master Makarov.

"That sounds like a job for the old Natsu apparently." said Cana.

"You are correct on that Cana, it would have only taken him five minutes tops to get there spirits back. But now he is the problem and doesn't care which is making it that much harder on them." said Master Makarov with prominent frown.

"I can't believe that he actually told Mira all of that." stated Cana shaking her head back and forth.

"I am guessing that she pretty much forced him trying to figure out how to fix this, and since Natsu won't lie to her he was forced to tell her everything or take off. Which seems like both happened judging from how Mira was acting." explained Master Makarov.

"He still could have left out the part about pretty much disowning you guys though, that just seems too harsh." said Cana and then took a huge swig from her barrel.

"Yes the old Natsu would have never done something like that, but as Mira said he's changed and probably just didn't care if we found out. He has already done more than he needed to since he left, which I have a strange feeling that it was also thanks to Mira somehow that he even did that interview." said Makarov.

"Well I am just glad that I am not part of this drama, this is a perfect example of why I am so open on my opinions and thoughts." stated Cana.

"Oh and it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that you are usually drunk?" asked Master Makarov.

"That might have a little to do with it." replied Cana with a huge grin.

"Stay safe Natsu, even if you no longer see me as family, I will always see you as my son." Master Makarov whispered to himself as he stared at the ceiling. Thinking that it wasn't even noon yet and he already felt completely drained.

 **End of the Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. Now I have always had this in the plans of this story that Natsu would say that a few of them are no longer his friends or family, and a few people have asked why was Natsu still being so Nice to Fairy Tail well how I pictured Natsu is that he would never want to punish or hurt those that didn't do anything too bad to him which is why he didn't want Fairy Tails reputation hurt because it would hurt those that he still cared about. Now some of you might think that Natsu saying that they are no longer his family or friends is going too far, I have to disagree because if everyone was still that to him then why the hell would he have left in the first place. So as most of you probably can guess the Next chapter is going to have Natsu visiting Blue Pegasus. So as always feel free to leave a review they are always appreciated.**

 **Until the next time**

 **Digem Out!**


	21. A Visit to Blue Pegasus

Chapter 21: A Visit to Blue Pegasus

"Master do you really think that Jenny will be able to actually bring the Salamander here?" asked a member of Blue Pegasus.

"Yes I do, she can be very convincing when she needs to be." stated Master Bob.

"When will she be coming back with him?" asked a different member.

"Should be anytime now." replied Master Bob with a pleasant smile.

"What about the Trimen and Ichiya, do they know that they can come back?" asked another member.

"They have been informed that Jenny might be bringing Natsu back with her, and they too should be showing up any second now." answered Master Bob, as the doors opened and in walked the Trimen and Ichiya.

"See what did I tell you boys." said Master Bob with an enormous smile.

"Where is he, I can't smell the perfume of the Salamander?" asked Ichiya while posing in another one of his poses.

"Master is correct, where is Natsu?" asked Eve.

"Jenny has yet to return with him and it is also not definite that she will succeed in bringing Natsu back with her." replied Master Bob.

"Are you saying that we came back and he might not even be coming back with her?" asked an angry Ren.

"I bet she didn't get him to come with her." stated Hibiki with a small smirk.

"Come on men, we need to have faith in our comrade." said Ichiya getting into a different pose.

"Ichiya is right boys, have faith in Jenny's abilities." replied Master Bob.

"Yes Masters." said the Trimen altogether.

"Now men, we have visitors that must be attended to." said Ichiya while prancing over to an older women that just came in.

"Yes sir." said the Trimen while each going to help a different lady that was visiting their guild.

"I just know that you succeeded Jenny." whispered Master Bob to himself. It took another hour for Jenny to return to her guild, and her return confused everyone because she had on a really big smile but Natsu was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi everyone." said Jenny while giving everyone a wave still having that big smile on her face.

"See I told you that she wouldn't get him to come with her." stated Hibiki with a confident smirk.

"You're right Hibiki." replied Jenny still smiling like she didn't fail her mission.

"Okay Jenny, what gives, you aren't getting mad at Hibiki even after he pointed out that you failed and are still smiling like some crazy person?" asked Ren one of the few people in Blue Pegasus who can get away with saying such things to Jenny without her going ballistic. Probably due to the fact that Jenny and Ren have been friends since they were children.

"Who said that I failed?" said Jenny now smirking at the confused faces of her fellow guild members.

"Well seeing as how Natsu isn't with you I would say that is failing." replied Hibiki still confident that she failed.

"I guess I can see your point, but what is the one thing that Natsu hates the most in Earth Land?" asked Jenny taking a seat at the bar.

"That would be transportation." answered Eve with a small smiling remembering the faces that Natsu makes when on any form of transportation.

"Correct Eve, so tell me how anybody would get him to willingly take any of those?" asked Jenny and then ordering a drink.

"I don't know but he did take them when he was a member at Fairy Tail." stated Ren.

"I heard that most of the time Erza had to knock him out." said Hibiki.

"But what about the times that Erza wasn't with him?" asked another member.

"I heard that he only went on them because it would help him find Igneel faster." said one of their visitors.

"Or because he didn't want to make any of his friends at Fairy Tail walk." inputted another guest.

"Correct on all accounts, so why would he get on one now, yes we are friends but not that close where he would torture himself for me. Also I thought that the whole purpose of bringing him here was to get him to join us, and going with Erza's way wouldn't be smart. For all we know, that was one of the reasons that he left Fairy Tail." explained Jenny and took a sip of her drink. Her comment about them trying to recruit the Salamander surprised all of their guests, they were all now extremely curious since it sounded like he might be coming here soon.

"Those are all really good points Jenny, so are you saying that he is walking here, because if so that will take him at least a week." said Hibiki who was tired of her confident smile and smirk.

"No Hibiki, that would take too long, I am just waiting for the correct time since my train was actually faster than we discussed." answered Jenny still smiling.

"And what is the correct time Jenny my dear?" asked Master Bob.

"That would be noon." replied Jenny.

"That is just in a few minutes, what's going to happen then?" asked Eve.

"Well of course the Salamander will appear." said Jenny with a huge smile.

"How, I thought that he was still somewhere near Crocus?" asked Hibiki.

"That he is Hibiki my dear, but he said that he would be here at noon if I destroyed this at that time." said Jenny with a big grin, loving that she was able to rub this in his face.

"HAHAHA, Jenny I am pretty sure that he just pulled a hilarious joke on you." said Hibiki laughing his ass off.

"Keep laughing Hibiki, just you wait until he gets here." replied Jenny completely confident that Natsu wouldn't do that to her.

"Why are you so confident in him Jenny, also that isn't even possible for someone with his magic." said Hibiki finding it not as funny as it should be since Jenny is so confident in Natsu.

"Simple Hibiki, when Natsu Dragneel tells you something, especially when concerning him doing something for you then he is going to do it. Unlike most men that I know, isn't that right Master?" said Jenny while glaring at Hibiki and then giving Master Bob a pleasant smile.

"Yes Jenny you are correct, Natsu Dragneel is someone that takes his words very seriously." said Master Bob with a big smile.

"That may be true, but ninety percent of the things that come out of his mouth is about food and fighting the reset is completely idiotic." stated Hibiki getting a few laughs from the males present.

"Of course someone like you would think that. But you don't become the heart of a guild by doing that, if you talk to any member of Fairy Tail they will be able to tell you at least two different times that Natsu was able to make them completely forget their problems and start laughing and smiling with him. Also if he is an idiot like you claim then we need more of them, because look at how many times he has saved Fiore." shouted Jenny getting nods of approval from all the women and Master Bob.

"She does make a good point there Hibiki." said Eve.

"Oh come on you can't be serious Eve." replied Hibiki.

"I have actually always thought that idiot act of his was just a cover so that he would be always underestimated." said Ren while rubbing his chin.

"Now that you point that out, it has actually really worked out for him hasn't it." stated Eve nodding his head in agreement at Ren's last comment.

"You guys are all just giving him way too much credit." said Hibiki angrily.

"Are you jealous Hibiki?" asked Jenny in a mocking way.

"What the hell would I be jealous about that idiot for?" asked Hibiki asked back.

"Well, he's stronger than you, more popular than you, doesn't have to try nearly as hard to get women, knows how to treat a women correctly, do I need to continue?" said Jenny while holding up a finger for each point that she made.

"He is not better at any of those things than me." declared Hibiki.

"Oh is that right, do you want to make a bet on it Hibiki?" asked Jenny still smiling.

"You are so on Jenny, I am going to wipe the floor with your new crush." said Hibiki not remembering who he was going to have to fight in order to prove that bold statement.

"Glad to hear that Hibiki, because he will be here soon." replied Jenny glad that she was going to see Hibiki put in his place soon, and knew that she could really get Natsu pissed by a few choice words.

"Hey where did everyone go?" asked Eve now noticing that the guild seemed to have lost all of their guests.

"They all ran out of here after they heard that the Salamander was going to be here at noon." replied Ichiya standing on top of a table in another pose balancing on one leg.

"See Jenny, right there that is one point for me, they all ran away because they were afraid of him and his notorious brawls that follow where ever he goes." said Hibiki with a smug smile that was soon lost at Ichiya's next words.

"Sorry Hibiki, but the point goes to Natsu, because they all left to go and get their friends so that they could meet the famous Salamander." said Ichiya while staying in his previous pose.

"Well popularity goes to Salamander, and I am pretty sure that getting the women will soon follow." declared Jenny smugly, as their doors were just then thrown open and a stampede of women came in.

"Is he here yet?" asked one of them.

"Did we miss his entrance?' asked another.

"I can't believe I am finally going to get to see him." said a different one.

"Did you hear that he is the first well known mage to go back to being and independent mage." said someone else.

"Ladies please calm down, it will be noon here very soon so please take a seat and order whatever you want while we wait for our guest." said Ichiya surprisingly handling the situation quite well and not even doing a stupid pose while doing it. The girls packed into the guild and ordered some drinks and food, while Jenny cleared an area in the middle of the guild so Natsu could make a big entrance.

"Alright ladies the moment that you were all waiting for." said Jenny as she was in the cleared out center of the guild.

"Hey it isn't just girls that want to meet the Salamander." shouted out one of the guys that was present.

"Sorry about that, how about this then, the moment that you were all waiting for ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Salamander." said Jenny as she threw the lacrima at the ground shattering it with her impressive strength. As it crashed and shattered on the ground there was a bright flash, once everyone got their sight back all that was in the place of the lacrima was a flame the size of a basketball burning.

"HAHAHA see that, I told you Jenn…" said Hibiki but was cut off by a roar of a dragon. The roar came from the fire that had now transformed into a dragon that was twelve feet tall while standing on its hind legs, wings spread out wide and it's head raised to the sky in a triumphant roar. Absolutely everyone was surprised by this, but that became even greater when all of a sudden the shadow of a man could be seen inside of the dragon made of fire. The dragon let out one more roar and then dispersed and in its place stood Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander, wearing his red pinstriped suit with his black coat and hat.

"Man I am so glad that it was able to work at that huge distance." said Natsu as he dusted off his shoulder that had a few flakes of ash on it.

"Wow." was the universal response of everyone looking at him.

"Hello everyone, I really didn't think that I would have this big of an audience when trying that out from Crocus." said Natsu as he took of his hat and coat and re-equipped them away and gave the viewers his well-known grin.

"Wait Natsu are you saying that was the first time you did that?" asked Jenny as she came up to him.

"HEHEHE, well I did it once before but I only moved ten feet. But don't worry Jenny I knew it was going to work because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to see you again." said Natsu with a sheepish smile.

"I am just glad that it worked I would have looked like a really big fool if it didn't." said Jenny quietly to him as she hugged him.

"I would never do that to you Jenny, so what's going on here, why is there so many people in your guild are you having some sort of party and why are they looking at us that way?" asked Natsu feeling weird with everyone looking at him that way.

"I guess you could call it a party, when I informed Master and the rest of the guild that you were coming, word got out so all of these people are here to see you Natsu." replied Jenny with a big smile still not having let go of him.

"Oh come on they couldn't all be here to see me, but that doesn't explain the weird looks they are giving." said Natsu.

"You really like to show off don't you?" asked Hibiki with a little bit of disgust in his voice.

"What are you talking about Hibiki?" asked Natsu having a completely confused face.

"See he's an idiot, but I am surprised that he remembered my name." said Hibiki pissed that Natsu actually showed up.

"Hibiki that is not how we treat guests at Blue Pegasus." scolded Master Bob.

"It's okay Master Bob, I used to always act like an idiot so it is not surprising that he might still think that. As for remembering your name Hibiki I actually have a really good memory and just chose to give people nicknames since I thought that it was fun, but it was pointed out to me that some people didn't like that so I have stopped doing that. As for way you are calling me a show off I truly don't know why you would say that, plenty of mages can teleport it isn't that impressive." said Natsu shocking all of the members of Blue Pegasus at how Natsu was acting, all except for Jenny that is since she spent a good amount of time with yesterday.

"You really don't know do you." stated Ren.

"Hibiki could you please show Natsu his entrance and I know that you have it recorded." said Eve.

"Fine whatever." replied Hibiki as he used his archive magic to bring up a huge recording of his entrance, which completely shocked Natsu.

"Holy crap that looked so badass, I wonder why it didn't do that when I only moved like ten feet?" asked Natsu out loud.

"Maybe because it took more time for you to travel the long distance and this was the filler, also may I ask how you did that Natsu, I have never heard of any type of fire mage being able to teleport even with the assistance of a lacrima?" said Master Bob.

"I guess I might as well tell you since there is no way that this will be kept a secret with how many people witnessed it." said Natsu as he looked at the still shell shocked guests.

"So how'd you do it Natsu?" asked Jenny.

"I'll tell you, but after you let go of me, not that I don't enjoy it Jenny." said Natsu causing Jenny to have a small blush.

"Sorry about that, it just felt so comforting." stated Jenny as her blush deepened and she let go of him.

"No problem Jenny, and I actually have been told that a lot, must be because I'm a fire mage. As for how I did that teleportation, I gave Jenny a lacrima with some of my fire inside of it which allowed me to go to it once it was released." explained Natsu with a big grin.

"Okay but that doesn't explain how you are able to go to your own flames." said Ren really interested in how he did it.

"Sorry Ren, but that part I am keeping a secret, let's just say that I am unique when dealing with fire." replied Natsu.

"Are you sure that you can't tell us?" asked Jenny.

"Nope, sorry Jenny, but what are we going to do about them?" asked Natsu as he looked at the still very stunned crowd.

"Well here at Blue Pegasus, when we are not out on a job we cater to our guests every need. And since they all wanted to see you, it wouldn't be too much to ask if you visited with all of them?" explained Master Bob while also asking Natsu a favor.

"Wow that is really different to Fairy Tail, while I was there we rarely had guests just come and visit. But I guess that is probably due to all of the brawls that take place, and of course Master Bod I would be honored to be with any of my fans. And since I am at Blue Pegasus I will act as if I am one of your own members and not bring any shame on your guild." answered Natsu with his usual grin.

"Ha, fat chance Natsu, you might be wearing nice clothes now but that doesn't mean you are a gentlemen like us. You were once a boorish brute and will remain one no matter how you dress." said Hibiki causing a lot of the people present to cover their mouths with their hands after that comment in surprise.

"I am sorry that you think that of me Hibiki, but can I ask what I did to deserve such hostility. As far as I can remember I have never fought you or do anything to warrant such aggressive behavior, but who cares, if I let all of the bad things people say about me get to me, then I wouldn't be able to do much." replied Natsu still grinning and then headed towards a table full of women and started to converse with them.

"Why that son of a bitch." mumbled Hibiki.

"Well it looks like he is going to get two more points on you Hibiki." whispered Jenny into his ears with a smug grin.

"We'll see about that Jenny, just you watch." declared Hibiki as he went towards a table of women and used one of his standard moves. But was shocked that he was given the cold shoulder and they acted like he wasn't there, they even went so far as to start complimenting the Salamander just to get him to leave them alone. For the next few hours Hibiki kept running into the same results no matter where he went or who he tried to talk to, even the guys that were visiting didn't give him the time of day. They all seemed to be focused on meeting the Salamander, but Hibiki was the only one that wasn't able to interact with them, the rest of his guild members pretty much went about the business as usual expect for not being nearly as popular as normal but they all seemed to not care.

"What the hell is going on here, why am I the only one getting the cold shoulder?" asked Hibiki sitting down at the bar in front of Master Bob.

"Well you are not going to like the answer Hibiki." replied Master Bob with a sad smile.

"You can tell me Master, I just have to know what happened." said Hibiki.

"It's actually pretty obvious Hibiki, you were insulting Natsu in front of people that were here to see him. Especially that last comment Hibiki, that was way over the line, and you did that only because you and Jenny are still trying to get back at each other. After witnessing that it doesn't surprise me that no one is giving you the time of day, actually all you did was make Natsu look even better in everyone's eyes. He looked like the more mature person being able to brush aside your rude comments and remain completely calm." explained Master Bob.

"Shit, well what's done is done I guess." stated Hibiki as he rested his head onto the counter as Jenny came up to him with a huge grin on her face.

"Well it looks like it is three zero Hibiki." said Jenny giving off an aura of pure smugness at the results, which went better than she could have asked

"Okay Jenny you win, that's what you wanted to hear isn't it." said Hibiki with a frown.

"It is but I was hoping that you were going to wait until after you had a duel with him." replied Jenny with a smirk.

"Just cause he has more magic doesn't mean that he would win Jenny, battles require thinking which is where I would have the upper hand." said Hibiki not letting Jenny have a complete victory.

"You are correct Hibiki, that you need to be smart in a battle, but once again Natsu would destroy you in that aspect as well. Just look at all of the powerful things that he has had to overcome to keep alive." said Jenny knowing that she could still get under his skin.

"That was just luck." said Hibiki wanting to be done with this conversation.

"AHAHAH lucky, yea maybe Natsu was the first three times. But that wouldn't explain the rest of them and if you are so confident that it was just luck then why don't you put him in his place. Come on I now that you think he's just a smug asshole that needs to be taught some humility." suggested Jenny while chuckling.

"Maybe I will Jenny, just to get rid of that smug look you've had all day long." declared Hibiki while getting up in her face.

"Then do it Hibiki, go right up to him and challenge him to a duel. We all know that he can't turn down a good battle and it seems like you intend to give him a good one." replied Jenny with a sly grin, everything was going as planned.

"I will and then I will be the one laughing." declared Hibiki as he got up and headed towards said dragon slayer.

"Jenny, why did you have to do that to Hibiki my dear? You know that he is no match for Natsu." said Master Bob shaking his head back and forth.

"I am sorry Master, but he has been so happy after our break up and has constantly been rubbing it in my face. So I was initially just going to rub Natsu in his face for a little bit, but then he started to say all of those things, and things just escalated from there and I also had to prove him wrong about what he said about Natsu." explained Jenny to her Master.

"I can understand that Honey, so will you two be done bickering like children after this?" asked Master Bob.

"Oh it will be over for sure, if what I have planned works." answered Jenny with a devilish grin.

"Jenny I really don't like that look." stated Master Bob and started to get nervous.

"Don't worry about it Master." said Jenny giving him a sly smile and headed out back to their training arena.

 **Back with Natsu as Hibiki came over:**

"Salamander I challenge you to a dual!" shouted Hibiki shocking all that heard this declaration.

"Sorry there Hibiki, but as you can see, I am busy entertaining these beautiful women who are our guests." replied Natsu waving Hibiki on, shocking everyone that Natsu turned down a fight.

"Are you kidding me Salamander, you never turn down a good fight." said Habiki angry that he was just turned down.

"You are right Hibiki; I don't turn down good fights and probably never will. But as I said before I am busy here." said Natsu going back to the women at his table who were all surprised that he still turned him down.

"Are you saying that I wouldn't be a good fight for you Salamander?" asked Hibiki clearly losing the remainder of his composure.

"Those were your words Hibiki, but yes that is pretty much it, this duel would be a waste of my time now would you please go away you are wasting these fine ladies time with me." replied Natsu with a grin knowing that he was really getting Hibiki pissed off. But he didn't care, Hibiki started this and Natsu was fine with making him look like the fool and making himself just look better.

"Not worth your time Salamander, you must think pretty highly of yourself!" shouted Hibiki completely pissed that Natsu wasn't taking him seriously at all.

"I really don't Hibiki, but my opinion of you has just been getting lower and lower as the day goes on. But I guess if these ladies wanted to see me have a duel with you I would do it just for them." said Natsu giving them a big grin and a wink.

"Really you would do that for us Natsu?" they all asked with slight blushes.

"Yes I would, also it would mean that we can go back to talking without any more interruptions." replied Natsu still grinning at them.

"I really don't care what your reason is Salamander, but after this you will realize that you aren't all that." said Hibiki.

"Hibiki are you sure you are alright, because I have never once thought that about myself, and I really don't want to fight someone if they are already hurt?" asked Natsu just making Hibiki madder and madder.

"I am completely fine Salamander, now let's settle this right now behind the guild." said Hibiki as he marched out.

"Well I guess I have a dual, so everyone else feel free to come and watch, it might turn out to be a better fight than I expect. I really still don't know why he's so mad at me." said Natsu as he followed Hibiki out to behind their guild and was followed by everyone else in the guild.

"Okay what is this, why the hell is Fairy Tail the only guild that doesn't have an arena, it truly doesn't make sense?" asked Natsu causing a few people to laugh at him complaining at something like that.

"Well it just proves that we are better than Fairy Tail." replied Hibiki with a smug smile.

"And that's why you guys won the last Grand Magic Games last time right, oh wait Fairy Tail did." said Natsu as he took off his blazer and sun glasses then rolled up the sleeves of his black dress shirt.

"Say's the person with no guild, what did you do to get them to kick you out Natsu? Was it your arrogance because if so, I completely understand why they did that then and can't believe that they put up with you as long as they did." said Hibiki still having the same smile.

"HAHAHA man I would never have guessed that you would actually be that good at smack talking Hibiki, but sorry to break it to you but you won't be able to get me angry with comments like that. Oh and if you didn't read that article in Sorcerer's Weekly I chose to leave for personal reasons that truly don't concern you." answered Natsu with a smile never leaving his face while laughing at the beginning.

"Are you sure about that Salamander, everyone knows that you are pretty sensitive about that pink hair of yours. And it looks like you don't even like it since you decided to add red to it." said Hibiki confident that he was pushing his buttons.

"HAHAHA man I can't believe everyone was actually dumb enough to believe that comments like that actually got to me. I only used that as an excuse to start fights with that stripper Grey, and unfortunately I had to keep pretending that it bothered my when someone else said it, otherwise my main excuse for fighting Grey would be lost." explained Natsu while chuckling to himself.

"That is so just a lie Pinky." shouted Hibiki.

"Nope and as for changing my hair color, I did try but unfortunately my magic only allowed this." said Natsu pointing to his red tips and giving Hibiki a big grin.

"Screw this let's get this fight started." said Hibiki.

"Couldn't agree more with you Hibiki." said Natsu while getting into a fighting stance.

"Wait I need to tell Natsu something." shouted Jenny as she jumped in and ran towards Natsu.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Jenny, this isn't the time to be giving your new boy toy a kiss." shouted Hibiki while Jenny was whispering something into his ear and once she was done she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and took off.

"Well now that your new squeeze has left are you ready to do this Salamander?" asked Hibiki noticing that Natsu actually had his head down so that his eyes were shadowed.

"What no response now Salamander, did she warn you about me and what I am capable of?" asked Hibiki with a smirk thinking that Natsu might not be so cocky anymore.

"Oh she did tell me about you Hibiki, and what she said makes me disgusted to think that I once was your friend." said Natsu in a growl.

"What the hell are you going on about Salamander?" asked Hibiki, but was stopped from saying anything else because of the huge amount of magic that was radiating from Natsu.

" **LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON GOD'S MODE!"** bellowed Natsu as he was now covered in all three elements, but this time he was making a three story pillar with it.

"Oh she told me Hibiki, how while dating her you still flirted with other women, how you made her feel like she was someone that could just be used and thrown away with once you were done with her. How you didn't act like a gentleman with her as soon as you two became a couple, I thought that was something you men from Blue Pegasus prided yourselves on. I can see now that at least for you that was a complete lie, she also told how once you two ended it, you instantly went on as if nothing happened and rubbed in her face how happy you were to no longer be dating her. How dare you completely disregard all of those feelings that she had for you, did it actually mean nothing to you, well I can see that it didn't otherwise you wouldn't have done what you did to her. But I guess that might have been you just trying to hurt her more, if that is the case I should make it so that you can never do something like that to another women ever again. You make me sick Hibiki, that is not how you treat a women and that is coming from someone who was raised by a god damn dragon." shouted Natsu as he slowly stalked over to Hibiki.

Hibiki on the other hand instantly fell to his knees at Natsu's sheer power, and started to tremble and sweat profusely while he listened to Natsu rip into him about his actions and how he treated Jenny. He could hear the raw hatred coming from Natsu as he spoke, and as he sat there trembling for his life looking up at what a few moments ago he thought he would be beating up. He realized how wrong he was about Natsu, he could see that those eyes of his, which happened to be red right now, were taking in every little move that he made and was ready to counter any move he could make. As Natsu was only ten feet away he could feel the tremendous heat radiating off of him, and his mind that he was so proud of before and was confident that he would win with was telling him he had two options run for his life or beg and hope that this monstrosity of a man, the Salamander, might be gracious enough to spare him.

"I am so sorry please don't kill me Natsu, I promise that it will never happen again I swear on my mother's grave." said Hibiki as he started to cry and beg for his life. Yea he went with the second option which he knew was his only real option.

"What was that Hibiki, I don't think I could hear you clearly?" said Natsu stopping where he was waiting for a response.

"I said that I was sorry and it will never happen again I swear on my mother's grave." said Hibiki loud enough for all to hear.

"Good to hear, but it's not me that you need to apologize to now is it Hibiki?" asked Natsu still maintaining his impressive show of magical power.

"Jenny I am so sorry for how I treated you, it was completely wrong and I was a fool to ever do such things. Please forgive me and I promise that it will never happen to anyone else ever again." said Hibiki still shacking like a leaf in the presence of Natsu and his rage.

"Okay I forgive you Hibiki, because I can now see that you truly mean everything that you just said." replied Jenny with a faint little smile on her lips.

"Well it looks like you got lucky Hibiki, but if I ever hear about this sort of thing happening again I will be back, and that is a promise." said Natsu after he deactivated his **LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON GOD'S MODE** and stop letting his magic out. The whole crowd was still shocked by what they just witnessed, they all just stared at the dragon slayer that did all of that just because someone disrespected one of his friends. All of the men where trembling hoping that they didn't accidentally do what Hibiki did to anyone that was friends with Natsu or even just knew him. While the women were all happy to learn that there were men like Natsu still out there and all thinking that they wanted to get to know this man some more.

"I am truly sorry about that Master Bob, he was never endanger of losing his life maybe some severe burns and a few broken bones but nothing more, I just get so angry when I hear shit like that." said Natsu with his head down and with a slight growl.

"It's okay my boy, nothing bad happened, Hibiki just had his pride hurt and learned a valuable lesson as did all of the men watching today. Also I am pretty sure you are going to be a real hit with the ladies after this gets out." said Master Bob with a big grin.

"Well they are probably going to be a little disappointed when they see the next Sorcerer's Weekly and the rumors that are going to be spread after seeing it. Mira and Jenny really had a fun time making me look like I was both of their boyfriends." said Natsu while shaking his head back and forth at the memory.

"HAHAHA it sure sounds like those two, they really do get competitive with each other over things like that." replied Master Bob with a sly smile.

"That they do, I felt like chew toy that they were just passing around." said Natsu as he and Master Bob headed to the guild hall.

"So I have to ask, even though I think I know the answer, but Natsu would you want to join Blue Pegasus?" asked Master Bob with a big grin.

"Thanks for the offer and I really mean it, but I don't think that I could handle working at the guild every day. I need the guild hall to be the place where I relax, no offence but it would become too much of a chore for me." answered Natsu with a small smile as he and the Master sat down at the bar.

"But you have been handling yourself perfectly fine today Natsu, and trust me it would not be as busy as it is today." explained Master Bob.

"I know that but it just doesn't suit what I am looking for right now if you get what I mean." said Natsu with a faint smile.

"I actually completely understand you Natsu; I went through the exact same thing when I left Fairy Tail. My path led me to Blue Pegasus, which is why I offered you to join us, but it would appear that your path will be leading you elsewhere and I hope that you find whatever it is that you are looking for my boy." said Master Bob with a huge grin.

"Thanks Master Bob, you are a really good Master." said Natsu giving him a big smile.

"Thank you Natsu, that means a lot coming from you, and it looks like some women are patiently waiting for us to be done." replied Master Bob while pointing at the group of women gathered a few feet away looking at them anxiously.

"Never a dull moment huh." stated Natsu with a little smirk.

"For someone like you I bet that is true, now go to your fans and don't keep them waiting any longer." said Master Bob as he shooed away Natsu.

"Alight women, there was a group that didn't get to finish our conversation." said Natsu as he headed back into the crowd of fans that he didn't really understand why he had them.

"So what was his answer Master?" asked Jenny coming up to him with a big smile.

"It was no like I thought it was going to be, but we still had to ask." replied Master Bob as he watched Natsu having a good time with the women all around him.

"Darn I was really hoping that he would join, I mean look at him he just a natural at this." said Jenny also looking at him.

"That is because all he wants to do is be friends with all of them, nothing less and nothing more, he has no ulterior motives he just wants to be their friends. It is something that you don't see often in the world we live in, it truly makes him special." said Master Bob with a proud smile looking at the man that used to be a kid of Makarov's.

"He is isn't he." said Jenny with a faint blush and smile gracing her features.

For the rest of the day Natsu stayed at Blue Pegasus entertaining and just talking with anyone that wanted to see him. It lasted until midnight when they shut down the guild, and by that time Natsu, Jenny, and Ichiya were the only ones remaining.

"Well it was fun hanging out with you guys." said Natsu as he started to stretch.

"It is always a pleasure to smell your perfume Natsu." said Ichiya.

"It truly was fun Natsu, and thanks for sticking up for me." said Jenny giving him a fond smile.

"Hey no problem Jenny, it is something that I would do for any of my friends." replied Natsu with a big grin.

"You would wouldn't you." said Jenny while smiling, knowing that was just who Natsu was.

"So what are your plans now Natsu?" asked Ichiya.

"Probably keep wandering around looking for who knows what, but hey isn't that half of the fun." said Natsu with his big grin directed towards the two.

"Sounds like it, so when will we see you again?" asked Jenny.

"I honestly don't know Jenny, who knows it could be that we see each other again at the Grand Magic Games or it could be sooner, well goodnight Jenny and Ichiya see you when I see you." said Natsu as he started to walk away.

"Goodnight Natsu." said Jenny.

"Goodnight Salamander and I hope you find out what you are looking for." said Ichiya, to which he got Natsu giving him a wave of acknowledgement and then he was gone.

 **One week later:**

Natsu can be seen overlooking the Worth Woodsea from a cliff. Remembering that the last time that he was here was during the whole Nirvana incident, which was another one of the times that he almost died for Fairy Tail, but he didn't care about that. This was the mission that allowed him to meet Wendy who he considers his little sister and would do it all again knowing that he gets to meet her again.

It had been a full week since Mira called him and he was starting to get worried that what he said to her last time they talked and upset her to the point that she might not want to talk to him anymore. So he decided that he would wait for her to call him and give her all of the time that she needed. Natsu then felt that we was getting a call and assumed that it was Wendy but when looking down to pick it up he realized that it was Mira.

"Hello Mira, I am surprised that you called me, I assumed that you were still mad at me from our last conversation." said Natsu wanting to get that out of the way right away.

"What are you talking about Natsu, I should apologize to you I wasn't thinking clearly. I just wanted to go back to when we were all a family and now realize that was an unreasonable thing to ask of you. And I was really concerned that you were going to be angry with me." said Mira wanting to clear this all up so that they could talk like normal.

"Mira I thought that I told you that I can never be mad at you longer than a day. I just care about you too much to stay mad at you any longer than that, so to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" said Natsu.

"I was wonder if you still planed on coming back here in a week?" asked Mira confident that he was going to be coming back like he said but just had to make sure.

"Of course I am Mira, I have to talk to Happy and you about if Master Makarov is okay with my proposal, and possibly see a few members while in the area. Also I still have to go to Hargeon for my photoshoot, then after that I need to visit Emi and Chelia." answered Natsu, giving his plan for after this week.

"Well that's good to hear, and Master Makarov is actually okay with any member hanging out with you as long as they want. He said that he knows that you will protect them, we also worked out an agreement that if you want Master and Team Natsu won't be in Magnolia for a few days if you tell me when you are coming." said Mira happily at the prospect of him staying in Magnolia for more than just a day.

"How the hell did you get him to agree to something like that?" asked Natsu never being able to predict this turn of events.

"Well after our photoshoot I was kind of upset and then felt the need to let some out, and then I ended up telling them everything that we talked about. " said Mira knowing that he probably didn't want that.

"Mira why would you do that?" asked Natsu not believing what he heard Mira just say that she did.

"Well I just was so mad after our conversation, and knew that what you said would be really painful to them. So I kind of told them knowing that it would really hurt them, you did say that you wanted them to know how it felt." said Mira in a timid voice that sounded really odd coming from her.

"What am I going to do with you Mira; yes everything that I said to you was true. But the main reason that I was avoiding them was because I knew that I would say those things and once their said they can't be taken back. And now that they are out, they are going to want to know if I really said them or if you are lashing out at them since I left and they were one of main reasons." said Natsu in a tired tone.

"Sorry Natsu I didn't mean to make it worse for you." said Mira in a sad tone.

"It's okay Mira, they were going to figure out sooner or later, so are they still planning on searching for me?" asked Natsu.

"Yea it took some convincing but they plan on heading out tomorrow to see if the leads that they got are any good. But they wanted to wait for the new Sorcerer's Weekly because they have been keeping track of your known sightings, and are also curious about the main article as well. Jason really did a good job on your interview." answered Mira.

"Shit, I have a feeling this issue is going to be a doozy." said Natsu.

"And why is that Natsu?" asked Mira.

"Well I am not going to tell you Mira, you are just going to have to read about it like everyone else." said Natsu and Mira could swear that she could hear him smirking.

"Why do I have to do that?" asked Mira.

"Think of it as the punishment for telling the guild our private conversation, Mira. Oh and did you get the package that I sent you yet?" said Natsu.

"No I didn't what did you send me?" asked Mira.

"The thing that you will use in one week to bring me back, and since you got Master to agree to them not being there we might as well use it. And I will only be able to actually stay in Magnolia for just one day, so you can tell him that so I don't inconvenience him too much." said Natsu.

"Will do, but how is something that you sent me going to bring you back here?" asked Mira.

"It's a lacrima Mira, and if you destroy it in a safe place in a week from now at ten in the morning then I will be able to teleport to you." explained Natsu.

"Really, that is incredible Natsu." replied Mira amazed that he could do something like that.

"I know that I am awesome Mira but I have to go now, talk to you later Mira." said Natsu.

"Okay Natsu talk to you later." said Mira and with that Natsu hung up. Mira was intrigued about what was going to be in the magazine so she decided to head out and get one since it was already ten in the morning and the vendors would already have everything set up. So on her way to the guild she swung by a vendor that always had copies of Sorcerer's Weekly.

"One copy of the newest Sorcerer's Weekly." said Mira with a big smile.

"Sorry Mira but they all sold within ten minutes of opening up, but some of your other members happened to get some copies. If I recall correctly I think Laxus bought ten copies since this was a special issue." replied the salesman with a big grin on his face while looking at Mira, and it creeped her out.

"Thanks Sir, I guess I will just borrow one of my friends' copies." said Mira as she headed to the guild in a run now, and as soon as she got in everyone looked at her with wide eyes.

"Why is everyone looking at me like that?" asked Mira.

"Mira did you forget that your photos that you took with Natsu were going to be in Sorcerer's Weekly?" asked Lisanna holding up one of the magazine, and right on the cover was Mira in her new soul kissing Natsu.

"Oh my, I can't believe I forgot about that, must have slipped my mind because of the talk we had after wards. But hey Lisanna it isn't that bad, it was just a kiss nothing more." said Mira with a slight blush.

"Just a kiss Mira, you really must have forgotten all about that photoshoot because all of this looks like more than just a kiss." said Lisanna as she waved her hand gesturing to the top of the bar that had every picture that was published from the photoshoot proudly displayed. Showing Mira and Jenny manhandling Natsu and coming as close as you can to being porn without actually being porn.

"Oh HEHEHEH, yea me and Jenny got carried away." replied Mira with a sheepish smile, noticing how good she and Natsu looked together.

"Let me go, it's not Manly to be hanging up photos of my sister like that!" shouted Elfman who was pinned to the floor by Gajeel with his magic, as he and Laxus stood over him laughing whole heartedly.

"So are you and Salamander finally a thing?" asked Gajeel with a big grin.

"What are you talking about Gajeel?" asked Mira still keeping her blush.

"Oh yea you haven't read it yet, since they all sold in ten minutes flat, Gii hii." said Gajeel still grinning.

"Well the whole of Fiore is now wondering if it is going to be you or Jenny that's going to tame the wild Salamander." said Laxus throwing her a copy of the magazine and then bursting into laughter.

"What are you talking about, why would anybody think that Natsu and Jenny are a thing?" asked Mira becoming curious, she thought that her kiss with Natsu was going to make people think that they might have a secret relationship, which they kind of do but not the way that Mira wanted.

"Mira just read it and stop listening to those two." said Levy with a comforting smile.

"Looks like you were in the same boat as me Mira, except for you couldn't keep your hands off him." shouted Cana and then bursting into laughter.

"Shut up Cana I need to read this quickly." stated Mira as she then started to read all the articles related to Natsu which happened to be pretty much all of them. Once she was done she was at a loss for words.

"Hard to believe that he beat the Trimen on their home turf." said Macao with a sly grin.

"Beat them he kicked their asses six ways from Sunday." said Cana laughing once again at was she read.

"That is not even counting what he did to Hibiki." pointed out Wakaba and shivering a little bit glad that he was all talk since he has his wife.

"I didn't know that Natsu would do that for any of his friends." said Laki with a look of pure admiration in her eyes, and considering that Natsu destroyed Hibiki because of how he treated Jenny it made sense why Laki looked that way. Since Laki was a strong believer that most men were just pigs.

"It's Natsu we are talking about here guys, would you expect any other kind of reaction?" asked Lisanna.

"You have a point their Lisanna, it is amazing that all he did was make Hibiki lose all credibility as a man and didn't also beat the shit out of him." stated Nab.

"I knew the Salamander wasn't as clueless as you all thought he was, Gii hii." stated Gajeel with a confident grin.

"I actually thought the same thing Gajeel, he probably didn't want to have to deal with the women here so he just pretended to not notice. When you actually think about it, it was actually a smart move by him because he was then never bothered by people and their relationships since everyone assumed he wouldn't understand." said Laxus and then laughing with Gajeel.

"You don't know that Laxus, maybe he just learned once he left." said Lucy with a sad look on her face.

"Sorry there Lucy, but it seems that you really didn't know him did you? Because there is no way for someone to go from not knowing what a relationship is, to being able to beat Blue Pegasus at their own game of making every girl feel like they are special in just two and a half months." stated Laxus.

"That is just Natsu being himself." refuted Lucy not liking people pointing out that she was a terrible friend to him.

"Laxus Lucy is right, but sorry Lu-chan Laxus is also correct. Read all of these women's interviews about their time spent with the Salamander, they all say how he was upfront with them that there was no chance for a possible romantic relationship but that he would be honored to be their friends. He even gave some of them relationship advise that was actually really good, and he made time to see every single one of them that came to visit him. That all shows that he was definitely not too dense for a relationship, either he didn't want one or already has someone in mind." explained Levy and then gave Mira a wink.

"It would appear that there was a lot more to Natsu then we ever could have imagined. But now that we know where he was let's go there and see if we can pick up his trail." said Erza getting up from her table with her team.

"Yea that is true for someone who didn't even try to get to know him, even after he repetitively saved them over and over again." said Wendy loud enough for Team Natsu to hear, which caused then to flinch at her comment and put their heads down and head towards the doors.

"Guys, Juvia is going to sit this one out if that is okay with you." said Juvia nervously.

"It's fine Juvia, I'll see you as soon as we get back." said Grey as they left the guild.

"Wendy why do you keep being so mean to them?" asked Juvia as soon as Team Natsu left the guild.

"Why shouldn't I point out the truth?" asked Wendy having a smirk on her face that just didn't look right on her.

"Because it really hurts them when you say such mean things, and Juvia doesn't want to see any of her friends sad, especially her Grey-sama." replied Juvia while looking at the little dragon slayer.

"Well it hurts me every time I see them here and remember that because of them Natsu is gone." said Wendy.

"Yes but that doesn't mean you should take it out on them, they are trying to fix their mistakes by finding Natsu and talking with him." said Juvia.

"Then who should I take it out on Juvia, the people that caused it seem like a perfectly reasonable choice." stated Wendy.

"Juvia doesn't know Wendy, but you need to stop taking your anger out on them." replied Juvia.

"I don't think that I will Juvia, not until Natsu comes back for good." said Wendy doing that smirk that just looked off on her since she used to be such a shy and nice girl.

"Wendy, Juvia is right, I was hoping that you would have stopped this childish tantrum of yours by now, but it appears that you won't so I am now ordering you to stop harassing Team Natsu." ordered Master Makarov.

"HAHAHA that is just great, well at least you are trying to prevent it this time unlike when Natsu was here. I mean it is totally fine if Erza beat him up for the littlest mistake, and for everyone to make fun of him constantly saying complete lies about him. But heaven forbid I tell them the hard truth, and I guess I am now permanently banned from becoming an S-Class mage just like Natsu because I am acting childish, according to you master." said Wendy shocking all of the members present that she was talking back to the Master that way.

"Wendy don't talk to the Master that way." said Juvia in a scolding manner.

"Why not, I was giving my honest opinion on his order, or is my opinion going to be completely ignored like Natsu's was when he pointed out the reasons why he should have been promoted?" asked Wendy.

"Wendy why don't you accept that Natsu felt on his own and stop blaming other people when you should be blaming him for leaving you." said Juvia angrily, causing Wendy to get up and head to the doors.

"Sorry Juvia but I am not going to blame someone who only did things to help this guild even after he left. I do think that he might be wrong about always helping other people, I mean look at what you are now doing after he helped you with your only goal since joining Fairy Tail." said Wendy glaring at Juvia.

"What are you talking about Wendy, Natsu wasn't even here when Grey asked Juvia out." said Juvia.

"HAHAHA are you seriously that dumb Juvia, okay I will tell you what actually happened. Natsu gave Grey one month to sort out his feelings for you and stop just leading you on like he has done since he met you. So you are only dating Grey right now because of Natsu, he even made sure that if Grey didn't have feelings for you that he wouldn't be an ass about it like he is with everything else that he does." explained Wendy still glaring at her.

"What was Natsu going to do if Grey didn't listen to him?" asked Lisanna.

"I don't actually know that but it must have been pretty scary to get that stripper to actually do something, I mean he would have just kept Juvia as back up probably for the rest of his life if Natsu didn't step in. It wouldn't surprise me if he threatened to kill Grey, like he should have done after that robot dragon incident. But he more than likely threatened to break every bone in his body knowing that Juvia here would be sad if Natsu killed a man that was just using her, because that is how much he cares about his friends even the ones that don't know how much he cares about them. Oh and Master I will no longer give that team anymore problem, I will just pretend that they don't exist." said Wendy and then left the guild, once again stunning the whole guild which she had been doing a lot more of in the past three months.

"Juvia didn't know that he cared that much about her." said Juvia shocked at the revelation that she has Natsu to thank that Grey finally did something.

"It's okay Juvia, it's just who he is and he doesn't expect or want anything in return. All he really wants is for you to be happy." said Mira coming up to her and giving her a hug.

"Juvia knows that now, but just wishes that Natsu would make up with his old team. They are all so sad now that Natsu is gone and Happy won't go on any missions with them now." said Juvia with a frown.

"I want that too Juvia, but when I tried all I did was make things worse. They just need time, and unfortunately it will probably take a long time, so we are going to have to be strong for them." replied Mira as she hugged Juvia.

"So who would have thought that the Salamander could actually teleport." said Gajeel trying to get all of the attention off of Juvia and Mira, and back to a happier subject.

"I bet that is another one of his abilities from being the Fire King." stated Levy with a smile knowing what Gajeel was doing.

"And talk about making an entrance, it is just like Natsu, to have a dragon appear and roar before he shows up." said Cana getting in on the conversation. This then started everyone at the guild to once again start talking about Natsu, and his photos with Mira and Jenny, and what he did at Blue Pegasus.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. So I hope that his meeting with Blue Pegasus was interesting enough if not I am sorry. The next chapter will be Natsu doing all of those things that he planned on and a meeting that he didn't know that he was going to be having. So as always feel free to leave a review.**

 **Until the next chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	22. Beginning of a Journey

Chapter 22: Beginning of a Journey

It has been a total of three months since Natsu Dragneel quit being a mage of Fairy Tail, and this was the day that he told a select few that he would be visiting. Those people and a few others where gathered at the stage in their guild hall waiting for Mira to pretty much summon forth their ex-guild member, at least that is what it looked like she was doing.

"Come on Mira just break it already, I want to see him." said Romeo who learned of Natsu coming from Wendy.

"Sorry Romeo, but I have to wait for it to be ten." stated Mira with a big smile.

"Mom is uncle Natsu going to show up like he did when he went to Blue Pegasus?" asked Asuka looking up at her mother, who were both told about this yesterday by Mira, knowing how much Asuka wanted to see Natsu.

"I don't know honey, but knowing uncle Natsu, he probably will." replied Bisca while giving her daughter a fond smile.

"Yeah I want to see his fire dragon." shouted Asuka jumping around happily.

"I too want to see it and hear its roar. From what the witnesses at Blue Pegasus said, is supposedly sounds like a real dragon." said Wendy patting Asuka's head.

"Do you think he will go on a job with us Wendy?" asked Asuka looking up at her hopefully.

"Sorry Asuka, but Natsu-nii sounds like he has some errands to do, but he did say that we were all free to tag along with him." replied Wendy with a small smile.

"Really even me?" asked Asuka.

"Yep, but you know Natsu-nii is going to make sure it's okay with your parents first and I know that he would be fine with them coming along as well." answered Wendy smiling at Asuka, making all those present smile knowing that Wendy can still be her old self as long as the Master and Team Natsu weren't around.

"Can we Mom, can we go with uncle Natsu on his errands?" asked Asuka.

"Sure Asuka, we have a week before dad comes back from his job." replied Bisca knowing that Asuka really wanted to do this.

"I have a question, how are you two remaining in contact with Natsu, and learning all of these things?" asked Cana pointing at Wendy and Mira, only reason that she was there was because she had spent the night there thanks to drinking copious amounts of booze yesterday.

"I already told everyone that I am never again telling anyone a secret of Natsu's." replied Wendy.

"It is also going to remain a secret between me and Natsu." replied Mira with a little grin.

"Well that doesn't really surprise me, since you two are lovers." said Cana smirking right back at Mira.

"I told you already that we are not lovers." stated Mira with a huff.

"But you want to be." teased Cana loving that she could finally make Mira blush.

"Oh look it's ten." said Mira as she pulled out the lacrima that Natsu sent her.

"I am going to take that as a yes Mira, and go get him girl." said Cana while chuckling to herself.

"Just break the damn lacrima, Mira." said Laxus from the second floor, startling everyone since they didn't know he was there.

"When did you get here, Laxus?" asked Lisanna who was standing with her two siblings.

"I have been here the whole time, you guys were just too preoccupied with Natsu coming back to notice me, so why don't we summon that brat." replied Laxus with a big smile on his face.

"Laxus is right we need to summon Natsu so I can punch him in the face." shouted Elfman.

"You are not going to be punching him in the face Elfman, and we are not summoning him, we are just unleashing some of his fire so that he can teleport to it." explained Mira while glaring at Elfman.

"Well Mira, are you going to just sit there glaring at Elfman or are going to break it so that we can see Natsu?" asked Levy with a smirk.

"Sorry" said Mira as she then broke the lacrima on the stage. And it happened just like it did Blue Pegasus, and the members present had to agree that it did sound like a dragon's roar, just like the witnesses at Blue Pegasus said.

"Hey guys" said Natsu with his usual grin while wearing his white outfit minus the coat, blazer, and hat.

"NATSU!" shouted Elfman as he swung a fist at Natsu's head, but before it landed Natsu just vanished.

"Elfman, if he is no longer here you are going to be begging for death when I am through with you." said Mira in a very harsh tone while glaring at her younger brother.

"I didn't even touch him Mira, I swear, I was only going to hit him for kissing you." said Elfman cowering before his sister that looked like she was ready to kill.

"I already told you this like a hundred times Elfman, I was the one that kissed him first." said Mira still furious at Elfman.

"I am so sorry Mira, I didn't know that it would knock him back to where ever he came from." said Elfman as he started to back away from his sister who had a sinister grin on her face and looking at Elfman as if he was her prey.

"I told you Elfman to not hit him, but you didn't listen." said Mira as she now had Elfman backed up against a wall.

"HAHAHA, how long are you going to keep yourself hidden?" asked Laxus while laughing, surprising everyone while also confusing them at his question.

"What are you talking about Laxus?" asked Happy from Wendy's shoulder.

"Natsu is still here, he just teleported somewhere else when Elfman tried to hit him." said Wendy with a big grin.

"Oh come on you two aren't any fun." said Natsu as he stepped out onto the stage from behind the curtains.

"Natsu!" shouted Happy as he flew into a hug with his best friend.

"Hey Happy, who's it going little buddy?" asked Natsu as he hugged Happy back.

"Great now that you are here." replied Happy still hugging him.

"Good to hear, so what's up with you wearing clothes now and having a small knife?" asked Natsu looking at Happy who was now wearing grey pants trimmed with green and a vest with the same color scheme, and strapped to his side was a small black sheath with a knife in it.

"Oh these, they are part of the surprise that I have to show you." replied Happy smiling up at him.

"I can't wait to see what it is little buddy." said Natsu smiling at Happy.

"Natsu." said an angry Mira while coming over to him.

"Yea Mira, what's up?" asked Natsu as Happy flew for his life, in fear of what Mira was going to do to Natsu.

"Don't you ever do that again, I really thought that you weren't here anymore." said Mira as she hugged him and buried her face into his chest.

"Sorry Mira, I didn't think about you being scared about me not being here. I just wanted to play a little joke on Elfman for trying to punch me as soon as I got here, I am so sorry and it will never happen again Mira I promise." said Natsu as he hugged her back.

"Told you everyone." shouted Cana with a huge grin, causing a few others to chuckle a bit, but was instantly silenced by a glare from Mira.

"What are they talking about Mira?" asked Natsu looking down at her.

"Nothing Natsu, just Cana being Cana." replied Mira looking back up at him.

"Okay, I now get what's going on here." replied Natsu as he then gave Mira a quick kiss, completely catching her off guard. Resulting in Mira having a huge blush and everyone else having their mouths drop open.

"That should let everyone know that Jenny doesn't even have a chance, also I don't think your plan worked Mira more women are coming after me than before." whispered Natsu into Mira's ear with a smirk that made everyone else assume that he said something different.

"Well that is probably your fault since you stuck up for Jenny, and had to make a big show about it." Mira whispered back to him and gave him a quick nip on his earlobe. Thinking that there was no way that she was going to let Natsu beat her in something like this, and still surprised that he did that.

"Natsu I am so …" shouted Elfman charging at the two and was stopped dead in his tracks by a single glare from his sister.

"HAHAHA it's good to see you all again." said Natsu as he and Mira stopped hugging.

"Uncle Natsu!" shouted Asuka as she ran and jumped at him, now that he was no longer being held by Mira.

"Hey Asuka, how's your training been going?" asked Natsu as he caught her and brought her into a quick hug and then placed her onto his shoulders, knowing that she loved it up there.

"Really good uncle Natsu, I wake up real earlier and then go train with Wendy for three whole hours." said Asuka happily.

"Wow for three whole hours?" asked Natsu with a big grin.

"Yep, one for cardio, another to build up my magic, and the last hour is practicing with TORCH and SPARK." explained Asuka.

"Wow if you keep that up then you are soon going to be passing me Asuka." replied Natsu while hopping off of the stage and heading towards the bar.

"Where's your hat and coat, uncle Natsu?" asked Asuka as she started to play with is hair.

"Didn't really feel like wearing them." answered Natsu with a big smile directed towards her.

"Oh I see, and guess what, mom said that we can go with you on your errands." said Asuka not even giving Natsu the chance to answer.

"Well glad to hear that Asuka, but I have to warn you that it might not be that exciting." said Natsu looking up at her.

"It's okay as long as I get to be with you and Wendy." replied Asuka.

"Seems like you two have been spending a lot of time together." stated Natsu.

"We sure have Natsu-nii, and she is taking her training very serious." said Wendy coming up to Natsu and giving him a quick hug.

"Yep, mom and dad said that I need a little more training before I can start going on jobs with Wendy." said Asuka with a proud smile at being complemented by Wendy, who quickly became one of the people that she looked up to.

"Glad to hear you two, and Wendy you changed your outfit as well?" asked Natsu even though he could plainly see that she had. Wendy was now wearing black boots that went up to her knees and were trimmed in a dark blue, she was also wearing black skirt that went down to just above her knees. She was now also wearing biker shorts underneath her skirt since a skirt it not the most practical thing to wear when you are going to be jumping all around. For the top of her new outfit she was wearing a sleeveless colored black shirt, this and the skirt were both trimmed with the same dark blue as her boots. To finish out her outfit she was rocking a pair of black fingerless gloves that were also trimmed in blue to match the rest of her outfit.

"Yep Natsu-nii, I got this one since it is a lot more practical for combat than what I used to wear, while also being not as flashy so I can be stealthy." explained Wendy hoping that Natsu would agree with her.

"Wow Wendy, I am very impressed that you thought about all that, it also looks really good on you, where did you get it?" said Natsu giving her a proud smile that she did all of this by herself.

"Thanks Natsu, and I actually went to the same place that you got your clothes done." replied Wendy with a huge smile.

"They really do some good work there, which is actually one of the places that I have to stop by." said Natsu.

"So what else do you have planned Natsu?" asked Levy.

"Well there was that, talking with Mira and Happy, and then going to visit Emi and Chelia." explained Natsu.

"Who's Emi?" asked Cana.

"Oh she is just a little girl that I saved from some creep before I visited Lamia Scale, which reminds me I should go pay that dirt bad a visit to make sure that I wasn't wrong in giving him a second chance. Oh yea back to Emi, well after I saved her we bonded while I was taking her back to her parents, and she made me promise that I would visit her, she is actually really close to your age Asuka. I am pretty sure that you two would make great friends." explained Natsu with a big grin.

"Of course we would uncle Natsu, any friend of yours is a friend of mine." said Asuka causing Natsu to laugh at her.

"Well you will get to meet her in a few days." said Natsu after he stopped laughing.

"Yeah a new friend." cheered Asuka causing everyone to smile at how happy she was at making a new friend.

"So Natsu, I heard about you beating Blue Pegasus at their own game, while also showing them that you are not to be messed with. And somewhat breaking Hibiki in the process, and that is the Natsu that I want to have a battle with." said Laxus as he came up and leaned up against the bar next to Natsu.

"Yeah apparently I was good enough to be invited to join their guild, and as for Hibiki he is lucky that I didn't give him burns all over his body for what he did to Jenny. And sorry Laxus I really don't think I could ever get that angry against you, but next time I visit if you want to have I duel I am down for it." replied Natsu with a grin after challenging Laxus for the next time they meet up.

"You truly have changed haven't you Natsu." stated Laxus with a big smile.

"Not really, I just have stopped hiding somethings while also no longer getting into fights every second." replied Natsu with a smirk.

"That sounds like changing to me." said Cana with a big grin.

"It is but isn't Cana, I have always been like this I just choice before to try and have the most fun possible." explained Natsu.

"Yep you still changed in my book." she replied with a cheeky grin.

"Well I guess I will have to give this bottle of liquor to someone else." said Natsu as he re-equipped it into his hand.

"Oh my god is that another bottle of the Vodka that you gave Gildarts last time?" asked Cana almost drooling over it.

"Yep, but I think that I might just have to give it to Lisanna." said Natsu with a serious face.

"You have to be kidding me she doesn't even drink." shouted Cana.

"I would be honored to accept such a nice gift from you Natsu." said Lisanna knowing that Natsu was just toying with Cana.

"Okay I am sorry Natsu you didn't change, just don't give that to someone who won't appreciate it." said Cana coming over and putting her hands together in prayer that he won't waste it.

"HAHAHA I think this is a first Cana, you are usually the one messing with me, of course this is for you." said Natsu as he tossed the bottle to her, causing Cana's eyes to widen in fear of it breaking.

"Thank you so much Natsu, and by the way how do you keep getting these expensive bottles?" asked Cana as she hugged the bottle of vodka as if it was her baby.

"I know a guy, who gives me a ridiculous discount so I will occasionally buy some from him." replied Natsu.

"How much of a discount?" asked Cana.

"Ninety percent." said Natsu nonchalantly.

"Why so much, what did you do to get one so high?" asked Cana not believing it.

"Just saved his life one time while coming back from a job, he was getting attacked by some bandits and they had already killed his guards and were about to finish him when I came." explained Natsu.

"I guess that would warrant such a discount." said Cana as she opened the bottle and took a swig.

"Natsu, I take it you being able to teleport to your fire is one of your new abilities right?" asked Levy, using this opportunity to ask Natsu some questions.

"Yep, and I am guessing you want me to tell you some more?" asked Natsu right back to Levy.

"I would really love it if you did, because I have spent a lot of time trying to learn more but can't find anything. And I have been looking since your last visit." said Levy with a face that showed she was beaten.

"Okay, but just like last time I told you guys a secret, I want this time to be the same. I really don't want my enemies knowing this stuff. It already sucks that everyone knows that dragon slayers are weak to transportation." said Natsu with his face looking a little sick just at the thought of transportation.

"And whose fault is that." said Laxus giving Natsu a glare.

"Not mine, everyone just thought that it was just me, until the Grand Magic Games." Natsu replied back to Laxus giving him his own glare.

"Shit you're right, my bad." replied Laxus as he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

"Getting that all aside, we promise that we won't tell anyone else Natsu." said Levy trying to steer the conversation back to Natsu's new abilites, since he is the new Fire King.

"Okay, this one is not that interesting but I have fire telekinesis, just like that guy from Phantom Lord." answered Natsu with a little grin.

"You mean Totomaru, Natsu and he actually was the one to teach me some different types of fire while you guys were gone. Also he really doesn't like you for some reason." said Romeo with a smirk.

"Yeah that was his name and it doesn't really surprise me that he isn't a fan of me, I did kick his ass." replied Natsu with a confident smirk.

"That must be really handy." said Lisanna.

"It really is, but I also have more control than the average fire mage with telekinesis, I can manipulate the fire any way I see fit. I can compress it down into a really hot flame that will be able to cut almost anything. Or I can go the other way with it and make it huge, but that cuts down on how much damage it can do. I also think that with enough practice that I will be able to control what it actually burns." explained Natsu causing everyone to realize that was a lot of control to have.

"Wow that will really be impressive if you can do that last one, so any other secret that you are willing to show?" asked Levy wanting to know more.

"I guess I can show you one more, but I really don't know much about it I am still trying to figure out what it actually does. As of right now I am calling it my Holy Fire, because of what I think I might be able to do with it." said Natsu as he held out his left hand and a pure white flame appeared on it.

"Wow that is so pretty uncle Natsu." said Asuka as she tried to grab at it, but Natsu moved it out of her reach.

"What do you think, that it is capable of doing Natsu-nii?" asked Wendy while also agreeing with Asuka's statement.

"I haven't tested this yet, but I think that it might be able to heal wounds. While also being very effective against dark magic and demons, but like I said before haven't tested it out yet so I really don't know." explained Natsu while rubbing his chin.

"That is incredible Natsu, if you are correct about your guess that means that you will be able to help more people than you already do." said Mira with a huge smile.

"Yep, it would be nice to be able to do something other than destroying stuff." replied Natsu with a frown.

"That isn't true Natsu; you have been doing that ever since I met you. Always helping you friends out and comforting them when needed, or just making them laugh when they are down." said Levy wanting him to not start thinking that all he has ever done is destroy thing.

"Yea Natsu, Levy is right, you have done plenty of other things, like becoming a good role model for Wendy, Romeo, and Asuka." said Bisca and couldn't be happier that her daughter chose Natsu to be her role model.

"They're right, and we don't want to ever hear you saying that all you do is destroy things." said Mira with a warm smile on her angelic face.

"Thanks guys, I am fortunate to have friends like you." said Natsu giving all of them a big smile.

"As you always said, what are friends for if not to help each other out when needed." said Mira as the guild doors opened.

"Hi everyone." said Juvia with a big smile on her face, but then froze once she saw Natsu at the bar with everyone.

"Hey Juvia it's nice to see you again, and congratulations on your relationship with Grey." said Natsu with a really nice smile. Juvia then just started to walk towards him without saying anything, causing Natsu to become concerned that he might have said something wrong. Like maybe her and Grey just broke up so his last comment would be really hurtful.

"Thank you Natsu, Juvia doesn't know how Juvia can ever thank you properly." said Juvia while hugging him as hard as she could.

"Hey it's okay Juvia, you don't have to do anything for me I am just glad to be your friend and honestly I have no idea what you are thanking me for." said Natsu with a cheesy grin because he really didn't know what she was thanking him for.

"Wendy told Juvia everything, how it was all thanks to you that Grey finally asked Juvia out." said Juvia while still hugging him.

"Man I can't tell you two anything and expect it to remain a secret can I?" asked Natsu while giving Mira and Wendy a playful glare that they both knew wasn't him being angry at them at all.

"That's not true Natsu-nii." said Wendy as she shyly looked at him, and saw that he was just smiling at her.

"Also that isn't true Juvia, I know that he would have noticed you sooner or later, you are too darn determined to every let something like that stop you. That is something we both have in common, and all I did was give him a push towards his own feelings that you already made him have." said Natsu giving the rain women one of his grins that can cause anyone to smile.

"Still Juvia wanted to thank you Natsu, it really means a lot to Juvia." said Juvia as she stopped hugging him.

"No problem Juvia, so how have you been and what have you been up to?" asked Natsu.

"Juvia has been great; she is now on Team Natsu." Juvia said before she realized who she was talking to and quickly covered her mouth, causing Natsu to start laughing.

"It's okay Juvia I know all about them keeping the team name, and I want you to know that you are free to say whatever you want to say to me." said Natsu while giving her a big grin.

"So as Juvia was saying, Juvia was invited onto team Natsu and has been going on a lot of missions with them. While also looking for you with them, but they aren't as happy as they used to be when you and Happy were on the team. They try and put on a happy front, but Juvia knows that they are really hurting, and Juvia just wishes that she could do something to help them more." said Juvia with a sad smile.

"I am so sorry about that Juvia I really wish that I could fix this right now for you, but I know that I would only make things worse. And don't worry Juvia you just being there for them is more than enough, trust me that helps more than you would ever know." said Natsu as he sent a glance towards Mira and she just smiled back at him.

"You really think that is enough?" asked Juvia.

"Yes it is Juvia, so let's switch to a different topic other than one of my big mess ups." said Natsu with a big smile. And that is what everyone did until it was six at night and Natsu was getting ready to head to Hargeon with everyone that wanted to come along. Which so happened to be; Mira, Wendy, Happy, Carla, Romeo, Levy, Bisca, and Asuka and they were all just about to leave to go pack when Natsu had different suggestion.

"How about this guys? Rather than you going and getting other clothes I just buy you guys whatever you want when we are in Hargeon. It will be my way of thanking you all for making this trip more entertaining." suggested Natsu with a big grin.

"Are you sure about that Natsu, we don't want to waste your jewels." said Levy not wanting to be a burden.

"That is ridiculous Levy; you are never wasting your money if you are spending it on your friends. And besides I have plenty of jewels, and am going to have plenty coming in just for putting my name on an outfit." said Natsu as they headed towards the train station.

"As long as you are sure about this Natsu." said Mira while walking right next to him.

"Of course I am, otherwise I wouldn't have suggested it. Oh yea Happy what was that surprise you had for me?" asked Nastu as he poked the little blue cat that happened to be riding on his head.

"Oh yea I forgot about that too, well might as well show you right now." said Happy as he flew in front of the group and then a puff of smoke caused everyone to not see him for a bit. Once they did everyone was surprised except for Carla, Wendy, and Romeo who all just had big smiles, because where Happy once was a blue humanoid cat just like Lily in his battle form, but this was wearing all of the clothes that Happy was before.

"Wow is that really you Happy?" asked Natsu not believing that he was able to accomplish this while he was gone.

"Yes it is, but I can only stay this way for five minutes, I still need to keep practicing." said Happy and went back to his other form and flew to his spot on Natsu's head.

"That is really impressive buddy." said Natsu as he petted him.

"So that is why we barely see you at the guild anymore." said Mira.

"Yep, I have to train so that I can be more helpful in the future." stated Happy.

"I guess that also explains where Lily has been going off to." said Levy.

"Lily was really helpful in teaching Carla and me how to do that." said Happy nodding his head.

"Carla you can to that too?" asked Asuka.

"Yes I can Asuka, but I look very different from Happy and Lily. And unfortunately I won't be able to show you right now, since I used all of my time for the day." answered Carla.

"Wow I am really impressed in everyone and how serious you guys have become with training." said Natsu with a big grin.

"Well we have to make up for losing someone like you Natsu-nii." said Wendy.

"Glad to see that you guys will be fine without me, and oh here you guys go." said Natsu as they just arrived at the train station and was handing out another lacrima.

"What do you think you are doing Natsu?" asked Mira looking at the lacrima he was trying to give them.

"Giving you guys this so I don't have to suffer on that death trap." said Natsu as he pointed at the train.

"Come on Natsu it won't be that bad, I just want to spend some more time with you and if you feel sick you can rest your head on my lap. Isn't that what Erza always did to make you feel better?" suggested Mira with a faint smile.

"Yes but she would always punch me in the gut thinking that it would knock me out, you aren't going to do that are you?" asked Natsu.

"Of course not Natsu, and are you saying that you pretended to be knocked out?" asked Mira.

"Duh Mira, otherwise she would have just kept hitting me until I was actually knocked out." answered Natsu.

"Wait and she actually believed that you could get knocked out by one hit?" asked Levy thinking that thought was absolutely ridiculous seeing how much damage Natsu can take.

"Yep, maybe she thought that my motion sickness made me weaker, otherwise I have no idea why she would think something like that." replied Natsu.

"Well we better get on the train before it leaves." said Romeo as he hopped onto it.

"Do I have to?" asked Natsu looking at Mira.

"Could you try just for me Natsu?" asked Mira giving him one of her best smiles.

"Sure, just for you Mira." said Natsu as he followed the rest of them on and into an open compartment.

On one side of the compartment sat Bisca with Asuka on her lap then Levy next to them and then finally Romeo who was near the window. Right across from him was Natsu, just in case he needed to use the window, then next to him was Mira and on the other side of her was Wendy who had both of the exceeds siting on her lap. As soon as it started to move Natsu instantly turned green and slumped into the wall.

"Well that seems to be one thing that will never change about him." giggled Levy.

"Mom why does uncle Natsu look like he is in pain?" asked Asuka while she looked at Natsu's green face.

"He just has a really bad case of motion sickness honey." said Bisca looking at Natsu with pity.

"You better not get any of your puke on me Natsu." declared Romeo with a look of disgust from just thinking about it.

"Come on Natsu rest your head on my lap, let's see if that helps you at all." said Mira as she rested his head on her lap, and as soon as his head was down those across from them could see that Natsu was already feeling better.

"Wow that really works, that doesn't really make sense but as long as he feels better it doesn't really matter." said Levy as she shook her head and pulled out a book to start reading.

"Now how long does it take to get to Hargeon, I can never remember?" asked Romeo.

"Two terrible hours." mumbled Natsu as he closed his eyes.

"Wow he can actually talk, and Natsu is correct on how long it will take Romeo." said Wendy with a big smile watching Natsu slowly fall asleep on Mira's lap.

"So what are we going to do once we get there?" asked Happy.

"Well knowing Natsu probably get something to eat first and probably find an inn or a hotel to stay at." said Mira while running her fingers through Natsu's hair.

"Is uncle Natsu asleep?" asked Asuka looking at Natsu's completely content face.

"I really think he is honey, don't you think that him and Mira make a great couple?" asked Bisca with a smirk.

"What are you talking about Bisca?" asked Mira having a faint blush appear on her cheeks.

"Yea they do Mom, are they going to get married like you and dad?" asked Asuka not knowing that she was making Mira really start to blush.

"I don't know honey you would have to talk to them about it." replied Bisca really liking where this was going.

"Bisca don't let your daughter have such crazy thoughts." stuttered out Mira.

"She came up with that on her own Mira, apparently she sees what everyone else sees." said Bisca loving that the tables were finally turned.

"She does have a point there Mira, if it wasn't obvious before he left, it sure is now." said Levy giving her opinion on the situation.

"Levy not you too." whined Mira.

"Sorry Mira, but it is true, it's the same as you always pointing out about everyone else's relationships but now it is happening to you." said Levy with a smirk, finally being able to get back a Mira for always teasing her about Gajeel.

"Yea Mira, it is probably not as amusing being on the receiving end is it?" asked Bisca with her own smirk.

"Aunt Mira so are you and Uncle Natsu going to get married?" asked Asuka looking up at her, causing no one else to speak, all waiting for Mira's answer.

"Sorry Asuka, but probably not." answered Mira with a sad smile.

"Why not, you two would be perfect together?" asked Asuka.

"Well because for two people to get married they need to love each other as much as your mom and dad love each other." explained Mira hoping that would be the end of it.

"Okay so why don't you and uncle Natsu get married then?" asked Asuka.

"I just told you why Asuka." replied Mira.

"But uncle Natsu does love you that much, are you saying that you don't love him that much?" asked Asuka with a sad expression.

"Wait how do you know that Natsu loves me that much?" asked Mira while also trying to not answer the question asked of her.

"Oops, I didn't say that it was a secret." said Asuka and looked away from Mira.

"Man Natsu, seems to tell the worst people his secrets." stated Romeo while shaking his head, causing Levy and Bisca to giggle and the other three to glare at Romeo.

"What all three of you have told things about him that he probably didn't want know." said Romeo trying to defend himself.

"So when did he tell you this secret Asuka, you can tell me that at least right?" asked Mira.

"Sure, I think it was the last time he looked after me when mom and dad went on a mission together." replied Asuka with a big smile.

"That was almost a full year ago honey." said Bisca wanting to make sure her daughter was remembering correctly.

"Yep, and I beat uncle Natsu at another shooting contest so he had to answer every question I asked him truthfully for one full hour." said Asuka with a big smile, causing everyone else to wonder what Natsu told the little girl and what questions did she ask.

"So what did you ask uncle Natsu?" asked Levy as she put her book away since this was definitely more interesting.

"A lot of thing." said Asuka.

"Like what Asuka?" asked Wendy also intrigued at what Natsu might have told her.

"All sorts of things, but I mainly asked him what he thought about all of the girls at Fairy Tail." said Asuka with a big grin.

"And he told you exactly what he thought about them?" asked Romeo wondering why Natsu would ever agree to such a thing, then again Natsu does a lot of things that he never really understands.

"Yep, uncle Natsu and I never lie to each other." declared Asuka proudly.

"So what did he say about me?" asked Wendy.

"Nope not telling." said Asuka shaking her head back and forth.

"What about me honey, can you tell your own mom what your uncle thinks of her?" asked Bisca.

"Yep, he told me that I was really lucky to have loving and kind mom like you, and that he wishes that he could've had one just like you and that I should tell you how much you mean to me every day. He also said that you are also strong, which is important because no one would dare to try and hurt me while you are around." said Asuka with a big grin, and caused her mother to hug her tightly.

"He's a really good uncle." said Bisca with a big smile at what Natsu said.

"Nope, he's the best uncle." said Asuka.

"So can you tell what he thinks about your Aunt Levy?" asked Levy.

"Nope, but I did ask him about you and Gajeel, and he told me that you two were definitely going to get married and have kids someday." replied Asuka with a big smile, causing Levy to start to blush.

"He said that?" asked Levy after a little bit of a pause.

"Yep, he said he knew because of some sort of dragon thingy." said Asuka causing everyone but Levy to have big smiles on their face.

"So what about me, Asuka?" asked Mira while still running her fingers through Natsu's locks of hair.

"Nope I have already told you too much, you were the one that he told me I couldn't say anything about." explained Asuka.

"So you are saying that you could tell me what he thinks about me?" asked Wendy.

"Yep, but uncle Natsu told me to not tell secrets unless it is really important or I get something really good from it. If so he will forgive me for telling his secrets." explained Asuka.

"HAHAHA that is hilarious, Natsu knew that sooner or later people would want to know what he told you, so he made sure that you get something out of it." chuckled Romeo, not noticing the other women glaring at him.

"So what will I have to give you in order for you to tell me what Natsu said about me?" asked Mira hoping that she could deliver whatever the little girl wanted.

"I will only tell you that if you promise to marry uncle Natsu." said Asuka shocking the rest in the compartment.

"Wow that is pretty expensive there Mira." said Levy now smirking at how devious little Asuka appears to be.

"I think we might have a new demon of Fairy Tail." whispered Romeo to Levy causing her to giggle.

"Well are you going to promise me that aunt Mira?" asked Asuka with a serious face.

"I can't right now." said Mira with her head down and looking at the man sleeping on her lap.

"Then I can't tell you." replied Asuka.

"What about me Asuka what would I have to give you in order to hear what he said about me?" asked Wendy.

"I don't need anything so I am going to save them until I do." declared Asuka preventing Levy for even asking.

"Okay, but Mira they are right you and Natsu would make a good couple." said Wendy looking up at her with a smile.

"Not you too Wendy, I thought you were going to be on myside?" asked Mira.

"We are all on your side Mira, and you would also make the best big sister ever." replied Wendy.

"Thanks Wendy and you would be another great younger sister." said Mira as she gave Wendy a quick hug, and that ended the other girls teasing Mira. For the rest of the trip they did the normal small talk, and once they arrived Mira was completely correct on what Natsu wanted to do right away. So they went to a nice restaurant and ate until everyone was stuffed and headed to the nearest inn, and rented rooms for the night.

"Hello sir, how many rooms will you need tonight?" asked the man at the front desk.

"How many do you still have available?" asked Natsu.

"We seem to only have three, Sir." replied the man.

"Then we will take all three for tonight and tomorrow night as well." said Natsu as he got out his jewels and paid the man for the two nights.

"Why did you pay for two nights?" asked Levy.

"Simple Levy, I have a feeling that I will be busy with Mr. Matsumoto for most of the day tomorrow, so incase that does happen we now have a place to stay. Also if someone gets bored they can always come back here and get some rest." explained Natsu.

"So how are we splitting up the rooms?" asked Romeo.

"I will leave that up to you guys to decide, but I think that I am going to go for a stroll. If anybody wants to come I will be outside waiting for the next ten minutes." said Natsu as he went to the door while whistling a catchy tune.

"Don't leave without me Natsu." said Mira and got a wave of acknowledgement from him.

"I think I have the perfect way to divide who sleeps where." said Bisca with a devious smile.

"Please tell Bisca." said Wendy already knowing what the mother was thinking.

"Well one room would have Wendy, Carla, Asuka, and me while the second room would have Romeo, Happy, and Levy. The rest of course would be in the last room." answered Bisca with a big grin.

"Hey I see what you are trying to do here Bisca." said Mira glaring at the mother.

"I don't see any problem with that arrangement, does anybody else besides Mira have a problem with it?" asked Levy also smirking like a mad man.

"Nope." replied everybody but Mira who just hung her head low.

"Don't worry Mira; you can go have your walk with Natsu. We will leave your two's room key at the front desk." said Bisca.

"Fine might as well, since you guys seem set on having us in the same room." said Mira as she turned and left the group to go outside and meet Natsu.

"Natsu, where are you it has only been three minutes tops?" asked Mira when she came outside and couldn't spot him anywhere.

"Settle down Mira I was just sitting on that bench." said Natsu as he came up to her and pointed at the bench that he used to be occupying.

"Sorry about that, I just thought that something might have come up and you took off." said Mira embarrassed that she instantly thought that he had left her.

"No problem Mira, is anybody else coming?" asked Natsu as he looked into the lobby and saw none of their group.

"Nope it's just going to be us tonight, so what did you have planned?" asked Mira.

"Planned, what are you talking about Mira, I was just planning on taking a nice peaceful walk as the sunsets and everything darkens?" said Natsu.

"Really, you the famous Salamander sometimes takes peaceful walks?" asked Mira not knowing about Natsu doing such things.

"Yes I do Mira, it clears my head, and it's good to see that you don't know everything about me." replied Natsu giving her one of his toothy grins and then turning around and walking away.

"Hey wait for me." said Mira as she quickly chased after him. And for the next twenty minutes they just walked side by side not talking just enjoying the peace and quiet and the company that they were with.

"Natsu, could you do something for me?" asked Mira a little nervously.

"Sure Mira, if I can do it then it will be done." replied Natsu giving her his grin.

"Could you hold my hand while we walk?" asked Mira wondering why she felt nervous asking such a simple thing from Natsu. But instead of getting a verbal response, she felt Natsu's warm callused hand grab her hand softly as their finger intertwined. Mira's next thought was that this just felt right, and was willing to stay like this as long as she could. So for the next forty minutes they walked hand in hand through the city of Hargeon, occasionally saying a few words to one another.

"Natsu, can you tell me now who you are looking for?" asked Mira as they decided to head back to the inn.

"Well I am actually looking for more than just one person." stated Natsu.

"Really, how many are you looking for then and who, it's just killing me not knowing who you are searching for?" said Mira with an eyebrow raised at him.

"I won't be telling you either of those questions Mira." said Natsu giving her a small devious grin.

"Why won't you tell me, is it really that bad, in your interview you said you didn't want to drag any of us into it. What could possibly, cause you to not want the help of your family?" asked Mira and shivering from the brisk air.

"Here you can wear this, I wouldn't want you catching a cold at the beginning of our little trip." said Natsu as he re-equipped one of his coats and draped it over her shoulders since she didn't let go of his hand.

"Thanks Natsu, but why didn't you just increase the temperature around you?" asked Mira as she pulled the coat around her tighter with her free arm.

"I actually forgot about that, as for your other question please just trust me when I say that it is better for me to do this alone." said Natsu while increasing his temperature so that it was pleasant for Mira.

"Okay I trust you Natsu, but did you tell Wendy? Because when I talked with her about this she all of a sudden started acting funny as if she knew, but really didn't want to say." stated Mira.

"No I haven't told her, but I am confident that she knows at least one of the people that I am looking for." replied Natsu.

"And how did she figure that out?" asked Mira.

"I was careless when I packed up my house so that she could take it, and left some pretty obvious clues." answered Natsu while shaking his head, mad that he made such a simple mistake.

"Oh I see." said Mira as they continued on in silence for a while.

"So who am I rooming with?" asked Natsu as they got close to the hotel.

"You're rooming with me, they said that they will leave our key at the front desk." said Mira as her cheeks blushed, just by thinking of sharing a room with him.

"Wow, I was sure that I was going to be sleeping with Happy and Romeo, Erza always made sure that is was just guys with guys and girls with girls." said Natsu.

"Well Erza isn't here, and are you saying that you don't want to be my roommate?" asked Mira while giving him a little glare.

"Far from it Mira, I just thought that maybe it was a girl thing since Lucy seemed to be on the same page as Erza." explained Natsu as he opened the door for her.

"Okay, well let's get that key and head to bed." said Mira while walking to the front desk with Natsu and her, still holding hands.

"We were told that you would have our room key." Mira said to the man running the front desk.

"Here you go and might I add, you two make a perfect couple." said the man as he handed the key to Mira who was now blushing again.

"Thanks." said Natsu with a smile as he then lead Mira to their room. Where Mira finally let go of his hand to open the door to their room and once they got in they both instantly noticed that there was only one bed. Mira instantly understood what the others were trying to do here, and honestly it seemed like something that she would have pulled on a different pair of friends that she thought would have made a good couple.

"It's okay Mira you can sleep on the bed, I will just stay on the floor. I have really gotten used to sleeping almost anywhere during my travels." said Natsu as he went into the room.

"There is no need for that Natsu, we are both adults here who are really good friends, so let's act like it and not freak out over something like this." said Mira with a bright smile.

"I am fine with that Mira, I just wanted to make sure that you were." said Natsu as he started to take off is clothes, which slightly startled Mira but recovered before Natsu took notice.

"Good, do you mind if I have the left side since that one is closer to the window?" asked Mira as she went to that side.

"No problem Mira, whatever makes you feel comfortable." said Natsu who was already down to his boxers and then went to his side and got into it.

"Natsu look away please." whispered Mira as she was about to slip out of her dress.

"Will do, but I really don't understand what the big deal is, I have already seen you in your bikinis and when you are in your underwear it is practically the same thing." said Natsu as he looked away.

"It just isn't Natsu." replied Mira as she slipped her dress off and got into bed with Natsu.

"Whatever Mira, are you going to get the light?" asked Natsu.

"Nope I am already in bed replied Mira with a little grin on her face, which was now the only thing that Natsu could see of her.

"But I was already in bed before you." said Natsu clearly not a fan of the idea that he would have to get up.

"Please Natsu." said Mira while giving him the puppy dog eyes.

"Fine but you have to do it next time." stated Natsu as he got up to turn the lights off.

"So there's going to be another time Natsu?" asked Mira with a sly grin.

"Well I assumed that this would be our sleeping arrangement for the rest of the trip, but if you want someone else that's fine, I can switch with someone else." said Natsu as he got into bed.

"No that isn't what I meant Natsu, you are the perfect person to sleep with." said Mira as she started to blush deeply realizing that it could be interpreted a different way, and became glad that the lights were off so Natsu couldn't see her blushing.

"I agree Mira, there isn't anyone else that I would want to sleep with, well goodnight Mira." said Natsu as Mira's mouth dropped open at Natsu's comment and started to blush even more than before. She then started to wonder if he knew what he was saying and how that could be misinterpreted, but she then remembered that he definitely wasn't the dense person that everyone else thought he was a few months ago. She also remembered that he was actually really good at talking with women, which was proven by his actions at Blue Pegasus. Mira decided that she was just going to ask him if he knew what he just said.

"Natsu" she whispered as she turned over to look at him.

"Natsu are you already asleep?" she asked as she got closer to his sleeping figure.

"I can't believe that you can go to sleep that fast." said Mira about to turn around until she heard him mumble something.

"What was that Natsu?" asked Mira now realizing that she asked someone who was asleep.

"Igneel…" mumbled Natsu in his sleep, causing Mira to have a soft smile thinking it might be a fond memory.

"Igneel you can't leave me again." mumbled Natsu but was easily understood by Mira, who instantly lost her smile and then gave him a hug to try and help him out.

"It's okay Natsu." she whispered back to him and was going to pull back but realized that Natsu had wrapped his arms around her waist and wasn't letting go.

"Natsu could you let go?" asked Mira.

"Please don't leave me." mumbled Natsu as Mira was trying to get out of his grasp. Causing Mira to instantly stop and just look at him realizing that he was still hurting.

"Well it is actually pretty comfy." said Mira as she nestled into a comfy spot, noticing how warm and safe she felt in his arms even while he was asleep and then slowly drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. So I was going to have Natsu do all of his other plans in this chapter but it seems that I got carried away, so I am splitting it into multiple chapters otherwise it would have been too long. So I hope that I am doing an okay job with Mira's and Natsu's relationship, and I want to point out that I don't want them to progress to fast since they both think that right now wouldn't be the best to start anything. So as always feel free to leave me a review.**

 **Until the next chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	23. The Proposals

Chapter 23: The proposals

"Just five more minutes." muttered Mira as the sun came into the room and was getting into her eyes, so she buried her head into the covers. Or what she thought were the covers but was actually the chest of Natsu Dragneel, causing Mira to remember what happened the previous day and all this did was bring her a smile as she remained snuggled into his chest.

"Well that is five minutes Mira." said Natsu, startling Mira since she thought that he was still asleep.

"Could we just stay like this a little longer Natsu, you are surprisingly comfy." replied Mira not making any sort of movement that would suggest her getting up anytime soon.

"Sure thing Mira, how could I say no to the person that gave me the best sleep I have had in years." said Natsu with a chuckle.

"I was actually thinking the same thing, but only months for me." replied Mira as she enjoyed her closeness with Natsu, knowing that it was going to end soon.

"Glad that I was able to help Mira, but the longest we can stay this way is an hour since I have a photoshoot today." stated Natsu, he too was enjoying this situation and really hated that they couldn't stay like this longer.

"I know Natsu, it would be really bad if Fiore's new top male model didn't show up for his shoot." said Mira as she started to trace Natsu's abs with her fingers.

"HA, I am pretty sure that won't last long if you are not right beside me." replied Natsu with a chuckle.

"Come on Natsu, you know that isn't true, right now you are a really big deal." said Mira.

"Don't remind me, everyone keeps telling me that and it is getting annoying, I mean I am still the same person I have always been at the core. So what is the big deal now?" explained Natsu with a little growl.

"They have just finally seen what I have always seen in you Natsu." replied Mira with a small smile on her face as she turned her face to look up at him.

"Thanks Mira, I guess that could be it but the timing is just terrible." stated Natsu.

"And why is that Natsu?" asked Mira intrigued why he thought that this was a bad time to become even more famous than he already was. Granted there never really is a good time to become famous in her opinion but that was beside the point right now.

"Well I am trying to figure out what I am supposed to do with my life right now, and having all of this extra attention isn't really helpful." answered Natsu.

"Sorry Natsu but that is kind of your fault, you can't really do anything quietly it always seems to become something really big. It's just who you are, whenever you enter a room it always becomes livelier than it was minutes ago and that is something I love about you Natsu." said Mira giving him a huge smile that Natsu thought made her look beautiful.

"Thanks Mira, you have always been there for me when I needed you the most." replied Natsu as he tightened his grip on her.

"And I could say the same thing back to you Natsu, and so would the rest of Fairy Tail." said Mira enjoying the feeling of his strong arms wrapped around her protectively.

"Yes, but unfortunately that will be a thing of the past since I am no longer a member." said Natsu with a little frown.

"That is true but it doesn't have to stay that way forever, also I know that you will be there when we need you the most, you always are Natsu it's just who you are." replied Mira with a warm smile directed at him.

"Those were your words Mira, I never said them." said Natsu not wanting her to think that he made a promise like that.

"I know, but you didn't have to Natsu I can see it in your eyes." said Mira as buried her face back into his chest.

"You are one of a kind Mira, you know that don't you?" asked Natsu with a grin on his face.

"I do Natsu; I just want to make sure that you remember it as well. Now I am going to take a quick nap while I still have my personal heater and pillow that are all wrapped into one." said Mira as she closed her eyes.

"Okay Mira, I will wake you when we need to leave." said Natsu and getting no response from the women snuggled into his chest and holding him. Natsu couldn't help but look at the women that he was holding and wish that they could be like this every day but it would seem that fate had other plans for them, and he still had things that he needed to do before he could have a more normal existence.

Natsu allowed her to stay that way as long as he could, after which they both got cleaned up and dressed for the day, Natsu was wearing his grey with pinstripes outfit. They left their room and headed to the lobby where they knew that the rest of their group would be waiting for them, along the way they somehow ended up holding hands without realizing it.

"Hey everyone, ready to head to the Lone Tailor?" asked Natsu as he and Mira came up to the group, the group all noticed that they were holding hands but didn't want to ruin it so they didn't say anything.

"Yea, and I can get anything that I want just like you said uncle Natsu?" asked Asuka, excited about being able to pick out her own clothes.

"Yep Asuka, but once again as long as your mother approves what you picked out." responded Natsu with a big smile.

"Why do I have to always check with her when we do things uncle Natsu, I am a big girl now?" asked Asuka wondering why he always had her ask her mom or dad before they did something.

"Yes you are Asuka, but your mom knows what's best for you and she's the boss even I wouldn't mess with your mom." replied Natsu with a big grin.

"Okay uncle Natsu, let's go!" declared Asuka as she headed towards the exit.

"How was the rest of your night, you two?" asked Bisca with a big smirk.

"It was really nice, got some of the best sleep in my life." replied Natsu with a grin.

"I did as well." said Mira with a small smile.

"Oh really, is that the only reason?" asked Levy with a little grin.

"Yes it is, I also know what you guys tried to do last night but it isn't going to work on us." said Mira with a confident smirk.

"You're right Mira, we should have known that something like that wouldn't have worked on you." replied Bisca as she and everyone else just looked at each other with smirks as Natsu and Mira were still holding hands in front of them leading the way.

"I told them it wasn't going to work." said Wendy with a big smile on her face.

"Well I really don't blame you guys, it is something that I would have done." replied Mira with a content smile on her face as the headed to the Lone Tailor.

"Uncle Natsu can I ride on your shoulders again?" asked Asuka as she left her mother and came to the left side of Natsu.

"Sure thing Asuka, and there you go just like always, so how's the view up there?" said Natsu as he quickly tossed Asuka onto his shoulders with his left arm, since the other one was preoccupied at the moment.

"It's so much better, I can't wait until I grow up." stated Asuka as she turned back to the group and gave them a thumbs up after pointing to Natsu's and Mira's hands still held together. This of course caused the group following to start to giggle at the little girls antics; it was like she was a little Mira right now.

"Be careful what you wish for Asuka, because that will happen sooner than you think and you are going to start wishing for it to be the other way around." said Mira.

"Okay aunt Mira, will you and uncle Natsu help me pick out some clothes?" asked Asuka looking down at Mira.

"Sure Asuka, I would be glad to?" replied Mira smiling back up at her.

"I don't know if I will be able to Asuka since I have no idea how long this photoshoot will take, also why would you want me to help?" asked Natsu looking up at her with a quizzical look.

"Because it's good to get a males opinion, at least that is what mom told me." explained Asuka.

"I guess I can't argue with that, and I would love to Asuka if I have time that is." said Natsu as they walked into the Lone Tailor.

"Ah Mr. Dragneel I am so glad that you could make it, and I see that you brought friends." said the assistant that greeted them as they entered.

"I hope that won't be a problem?" asked Natsu.

"Of course not, actually Mr. Matsumoto wanted to see you right away about a new proposal that actually deals with your friends. So if they are willing to come with you Mr. Matsumoto would greatly appreciate it." said the assistant with a big grin.

"Well I see no problem with that as long as they are okay with it." said Natsu as he looked at his friends and they all were just smiling at him.

"We would love to." replied Mira with a bright smile.

"Then if you would all be so kind as to follow me, I will lead you to Mr. Matsumoto." said the assistant as he turned around and started walking away.

"Mr. Matsumoto I have brought Mr. Dragneel and his guests, and he brought the two that you were interested in." said the assistant as he lead them into a room that was set up for the shoot that was going to take place today.

"Thank you, if you would be so kind as to wait here for a few minutes Greg." said Mr. Matsumoto.

"No problem Mr. Matsumoto." replied the assistant.

"Okay Natsu, I am going to get straight to the point because I know that is how you like to do this kind of business. After your numerous articles in Sorcerer's Weekly, with photos in your new outfit, we realized that demand was going to be higher than we anticipated. We also figured out that women were very interested in your clothing as well, it could be because of what you did at Blue Pegasus, or it could also be because of the photos that you took with Mira and Jenny. Either way there is a demand for women's clothing that is endorsed by the Salamander, who is seen as a defender of women, which is why we wanted to ask if it would be okay to start a women's line for the Salamander collection?" explained Mr. Matsumoto.

"I am fine with that, but I don't know if my choice on a women's outfit will be that good." replied Natsu while scratching the back of his head.

"Don't worry about that Natsu, we already have some plans for that. Which is where your friends come in, specifically Wendy Marvell and Mira Strauss, so if the rest of you want to leave and explore my store Greg would be more than glad to show you around. But by no means do you have to, feel free to stay if that is what you want." said Mr. Matsumoto with a bright smile.

"I think that I will take you up on that offer." replied Levy while getting up.

"My daughter and I will as well." said Bisca.

"Me too, no offense but this sounds boring." stated Romeo.

"None taken young lad, because it would be for someone not directly involved." said Mr. Matsumoto.

"Oh could you start a tab under my name, and anything that they want goes on it?" asked Natsu looking at Greg.

"That will be no problem Mr. Dragneel." replied Greg as he ushered everyone else out even the Exceeds.

"Okay as I was saying we actually came up with some outfits already and actually one of them is just a modification of Miss Marvel's outfit that she created with us already. Which is why I needed to talk to her." explained Mr. Matsumoto.

"You really want to sell my outfit?" asked Wendy not believing that someone who deals with clothing actually liked her outfit.

"Yes we do Miss Marvell; it is very similar to what Natsu made which is why we want to use it. But as I said before I want to make a few adjustments like adding a blazer and a coat to it, probably adding a necklace, glasses, an optional necktie and having three different options for the bottom. The one that you have, and one with a shorter skirt and pants of course, along with those three other types of foot ware other than the boots that you have now. So what do you two think about this proposal?" asked Mr. Matsumoto.

"This one is completely up to you Wendy, it's your outfit. But I do think that it is actually a pretty good counterpart to mine, especially if they add the other things that Mr. Matsumoto was talking about." said Natsu giving Wendy a big grin.

"I don't know would they have the same emblem as Natsu's clothing?" asked Wendy.

"We actually have an outfit just like the one that you are wearing already wearing, with the extra things that we were discussing if you want to take a look at it." said Mr. Matsumoto as he walked over to a rack of clothing.

"Yes please Mr. Matsumoto." said Wendy.

"Here you go." said Mr. Matsumoto as he pulled it out. It was just like he said it was it was an exact copy of Wendy's with the additional clothing for the top. Also another noteworthy thing was that the dragon emblem was smaller than the ones that were on Natsu's outfit. It also added all of the extra dragon things that Natsu had on his outfit, like the buttons and the clasps that held the coat when draped on the shoulders.

"Wow this really looks good." said Wendy as she looked at all of it.

"It's yours Miss Marvel, even if you don't want to us to sell it, it would be a waste to not have you wearing that. Also it has the same growing feature as Natsu's outfit and increased durability since making it fire risistant for you would be pointless. But we will offer that feature to our customers since it would be part of the Salamander collection." explained Mr. Matsumoto.

"Really you would just give this to me?" asked Wendy looking at Mr. Matsumoto.

"Yes, because you are a close friend of Natsu's." replied Mr. Matsumoto giving her a big smile.

"Okay, I have decided that I am completely fine with you selling it." said Wendy giving him a big smile.

"Good to hear Miss Marvell, now I can only offer you two the same deal that I offered Natsu on his own outfit." said Mr. Matsumoto.

"That's fine Mr. Matsumoto, and you can just give it all to Wendy." replied Natsu with a smile.

"Will do Natsu, and glad that you agreed to this." said Mr. Matsumoto with his own smile.

"Wait, I am not okay with me getting all of it, especially if it is being sold under the Salamander line." declared Wendy while giving Natsu a glare.

"Fine Wendy I can already see that I can't convince you otherwise, so I am not going to even try. So you might as well tell us how much you are willing to take." said Natsu with a grin.

"Good and I will only take half, of whatever you guys already agreed upon." stated Wendy.

"You have a very stubborn friend there Natsu, making sure that she gets what she wants. Even if that is less money, I like her." said Mr. Matsumoto while chuckling.

"She's like my little sister, and it appears that I am somewhat rubbing off on her." replied Natsu with a grin while Wendy had a small blush.

"Sorry Mr. Matsumoto, but what did you want to talk to me about?" asked Mira.

"I am so sorry Miss Strauss; well we would like you to pick out a dress that would be used on the women's line that is not suited for battle. We have four already designed with you and Natsu as the insperation, but want your opinion on which ones to use. And I know that this is a lot to ask but could you also model it with Natsu, because if we got Fiore's number one couple modeling again it is guaranteed to be a success. Also the same offer that I just discussed with Wendy and Natsu would be applied to this line." explained Mr. Matsumoto.

"I would love to Mr. Matsumoto, and I going to have the same division of money as Wendy." replied Mira with a big smile.

"Fine Mira, but you are in charge of actually picking the dresses." said Natsu while rolling his eyes at her.

"Fine by me Natsu, I am just excited that we get to model together again." replied Mira while giving him a wink.

"Well since we have that out of the way, here is the paperwork for you two to sign while Natsu starts his photoshoot. For the next two hours that is exactly what the three of them did, after which Mira picked out two dresses that she liked and spent another two hours taking photos in them sometimes with Natsu and other times not. After that she and Wendy took pictures in Wendy's outfit with Natsu half of the time for another two hours, meaning that that they had been their more than six actually closer to seven.

Once they finally left that back room they set out to find their friends who just so happened to be entering the store. This confused them as to why they were coming back into the store.

"Hey guys we were just going to try and find you, so why are you all coming back in?" asked Natsu.

"Well Greg informed us how long you guys would most likely take so we went out and explored the town. Because Asuka here really didn't want to look at clothes without the two of you." explained Bisca with a big smile.

"Man are you a stubborn little lady." said Natsu jokingly while bending down so he was at her level.

"Yep, and now you and aunt Mira have to help me pick out clothes." declared Asuka as she grabbed Natsu's hand and took off with him.

"So how was it?" asked Bisca as she and Mira followed Asuka who was dragging Natsu along with her.

"It was really good actually; they wanted Wendy and me to help pick out clothes for the Salamander line. They also asked me to model it for them, and I even got Wendy to join." replied Mira with a bright smile.

"It's good to hear." said Bisca as she watched Mira looking at Natsu and Asuka looking at clothes together and could totally tell that Mira loved Natsu immensely.

"Well let's go help Natsu out." said Mira with a big grin as they then went to the two. And for the next hours and half everyone picked out what they wanted and got them all thanks to Natsu and his generosity. As they were getting checked out, which was taking a long time since everyone was taking Natsu up on his offer and getting more than just a few items; Natsu decided that he needed some fresh air.

"Hey Mira, I am going out to get some fresh air, could you tell Mr. Matsumoto that I will be back to pay for it?" asked Natsu as he headed towards the doors.

"Sure thing Natsu." replied Mira as she set down her huge pile of clothing on the counter.

 **With Team Natsu:**

"Erza are you sure he's actually doing a photoshoot here?" asked Lucy as she looked at the front doors of the Lone Tailor.

"Yes I am Lucy my contact is very reliable and wouldn't dare give me false information." said Erza nodding her head.

"How did they get this information? I know Natsu did that one photoshoot, but I think that was going to be a onetime thing he did for Mira." said Grey while leaning against the wall.

"The person works at Sorcerer's Weekly, Mira isn't the only person that knows people there, but apparently he's doing this shoot for some reason and it is going to then be published in Sorcerer's Weekly soon after." explained Erza.

"Okay but are we sure that he is actually in there, I mean how long can it take for them to snap a few photos of him?" asked Grey who was bored from watching people leave the store for the last four hours.

"Come on Grey, this is the best lead we have had in a long time." said Lucy giving him a quick glare.

"It's just so boring though." sighed Grey.

"What's this about?" asked Erza as a squad of Rune Knights surrounded the building and prevented anyone from entering the perimeter that they set up.

"All be dammed, Flame Brain is definitely in there." stated Grey with a grin as he watched another group of Rune Knights coming.

"But what could Natsu have done to warrant such a response?" asked Lucy.

"You raise a good point there Lucy, Natsu has actually been really well behaved since he left Fairy Tail." stated Erza.

"I would have guessed that they would have arrested him while at Fairy Tail, to make an example of him. But now doesn't really make much sense since he isn't affiliated with a guild." said Grey.

"Well I guess we will have to just go and ask them." said Erza as she headed towards the nearest Rune Knight.

"Hello there my friends and I were wondering what's going on here?" asked Erza politely.

"Sorry madam, but this is Council business." was the reply of the Rune Knight.

"Well we are mages from Fairy Tail, so tell us what's going on and maybe we can help." suggested Erza.

"Sorry but that doesn't change anything, this doesn't concern your guild." he replied.

"But it does now that we can no longer go and meet our friend who is in that store." said Erza while pointing at the Lone Tailor.

"Madam, please calm down, or I will be forced to restrain you." said the Rune Knight loud enough for his fellow Knights to hear him and start coming over.

"I am calm, but I don't understand why you can't let us through or tell us what's going on." said Erza trying to remain calm, nothing made her madder than being told to calm down.

"Because those were my orders, now please go away." said the Rune Knight with a smirk.

"We have every right to be here." stated an angry Lucy.

"She's right, and since we aren't trying to get in you can't do anything to us." said Grey with a big smirk.

"Oh I can't, can I?" asked the Rune Knight getting into a fighting stance.

"Stop that at once soldier, do you have any idea who you are trying to start a fight with?" asked the Commander of this regimen of Rune Knights, as he and fifteen other Rune Knights walked up to them.

"Sorry Commander, and no I don't Commander." replied the Rune Knight while saluting his Commander.

"These wizards that you were about to fight are none other than the Salamander's old team. Erza Scarlet, Grey Fullbuster, and Lucy Heartfilia, still known as Team Natsu one of Fairy Tail's strongest teams." said the Commander with a smug smile.

"I didn't know Commander, I am so sorry." said the Rune Knight.

"Well do what you are supposed to do in this situation." replied the Commander.

"Yes Sir." shouted the Knight as he took off.

"Well this just got strange." stated Grey.

"Indeed it has Grey, what's going on here we need to go see our friend and you are preventing us from doing that." said Erza to the Commander.

"Well I might as well tell you, we have come here for the Salamander." said the Commander with a huge grin.

"What, why, Natsu hasn't done anything wrong." shouted Lucy.

"It doesn't really matter to me, all I have to do is follow my orders." replied the Commander still with a shit eating grin on his face.

"And what are those orders?" asked Erza while still trying to remain calm.

"Simple, we are supposed to make sure that no one interferes for the next few hours. Especially mages from Fairy Tail." answered the Commander still grinning like a mad man as thirty more Rune Knights came up behind him.

"Like that can stop us from getting to Natsu." said Grey as he got into a fighting stance.

"Yea, we won't allow you to arrest one of our own." said Lucy as she too got ready to fight.

"AHAHAH, one of your own that's rich, from what I heard the Salamander is a rogue mage now that he is no longer a member of any guild. So if you do fight us here, that will mean the end of Fairy Tail since this will be seen as an attack on the Council with no just cause." said the Commander loving the looks on their faces.

"You can't be serious." said Grey.

"Oh but I am, Fairy Tail has never been on good grounds with any of the Councils, and this right here would be the best way to get rid of your sorry guild and the best part would be that you guys couldn't even stop it. There is no way you can explain your way out of this one, like you have done all those times before." said the Commander now laughing in their faces.

"I am so going to wipe that smug expression off of your face." said Grey as he was about to attack.

"Stop Grey, unless you do want Fairy Tail disbanded." said Erza angrily.

"No, but he has to be bluffing they wouldn't do that." said Grey as he glared at the Commander.

"They can, and would if we do anything here. All we can do now is watch and see what happens." explained Erza.

"Wow so you all aren't as dumb as the Salamander." said the Commander with a big smile, causing Team Natsu to all want to rip him to shreds for bad mouthing Natsu.

"You know nothing about him." said Lucy in a pissed off tone.

"Oh I know more than you would think, there are tons of files on that mage and all that he has done. And every one of them states that he is below average intelligence who somehow manages to save the day. Like I said he is a complete idiot, and we have finally decided to cage that animal before he does something really stupid." said the Commander still smiling like a mad man.

"Well this is news to me, I thought that I would have known about something like that." stated an older man wearing a Council members robe and appeared to be in his early fifties and grey was starting to show in his brown hair, he had twenty Rune Knights escorting them.

"Chairman, I had no idea that you were going to be here." stuttered the Commander at a loss for words.

"So what were you saying to these mages, I would really like to know, and you better not change it now that I am here?" asked the Chairman with a smile that looked friendly but you could tell it wasn't.

"I was saying that we are going to lock up that idiot Salamander, who used to be part of their guild and if they tried to stop us Fairy Tail would be disbanded." said the Commander nervously.

"Well you are correct about the second part." the Chairman said while smiling at Team Natsu.

"But as for the first part you are so wrong I am amazed that an idiot like you could even rise to the position of Commander, actually I am going to fix that right now. You are now hereby dishonorably discharged from the Rune Knights for you incompetence and stupidity, you will no longer be receiving any of the benefits that usually go along with being discharged." said the Chairman still smiling.

"What, but why Chairman I haven't done anything wrong?" asked the Man about to be discharged from the Rune Knights.

"Oh but you have Commander, not only did you tell people who are not part of our mission details on the mission. But you somehow don't even know what we are doing here, not only that but you also tried to provoke these mages into attacking you. Those types of actions maybe were acceptably in the old Council, but not in this one, we will not lose a good guild over some stupid Commander who just wants to pretend that he is a big shot. Now get out of my sight before I have you arrested for interfering with Council business, oh and disrobe immediately I don't want you sullying the Rune Knights more than you already have." said the Chairman still having that same smile.

"Yes Chairman." said the ex-Commander as he quickly did as he was told, and took off in the other direction.

"Sorry about that, I hope that you won't think all Rune Knights are like him. I have been tirelessly trying to get rid of all the corruption that used to be in the Council. I wish that I could stay and chat but I have very important business to attend to." said the Chairman as he then turned around and headed towards the Lone Tailor just as Natsu emerged from it.

Team Natsu could only sit back as they watched the Chairman and his group of Rune Knight surrounded Natsu and started to talk. After a little while they escorted him away from the store heading the opposite direction of Team Natsu. They continued to watch until the Chairman and Natsu turned down a road and disappeared from sight, leaving Team Natsu extremely confused at what just happened.

"Was that the new head of the council?" asked Lucy looking at her two teammates.

"Yes it was." replied Erza.

"And did he just fire a Commander in front of us, and then go talk with Natsu and escort him to who knows where?" asked Grey looking at Erza.

"Yes Grey, all of that just happened." replied Erza.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Lucy.

"The only thing that we can do, return to Fairy Tail and tell them what just happened." said Erza as she headed off towards the train station.

 **Two hours later at Fairy Tail:**

"I wonder what they are doing with Natsu?" asked Wakaba.

"I know what Mira and Natsu are probably doing." replied Cana with a big grin.

"Mira and Natsu better not be doing those types of things in front of Romeo." shouted Macao.

"Settle down Macao, if they are doing that I guarantee you that it isn't in front of them. Natsu pretty much sees everyone with him except for Mira and Bisca as his siblings, he would rather ride on a train for a day than do something like that in front of them." said Wakaba as he took a big puff from his pipe.

"I couldn't have said it better myself Wakaba." said Master Makarov with a big grin.

"So they will just do that at night, when they are alone." said Cana with a big smile.

"Why have you all of a sudden been really into Natsu?" asked Macao.

"Well he is extremely hot now and got rid of that childish attitude and takes things more serious now. But the main reason is to give Mira an incentive to move on him before it's too late, but if I could get some from Natsu before that I will count that as a pleasant bonus." explained Cana still grinning.

"And I was just about to complement you on being such a good friend, but then you had to throw in that last comment." said Master Makarov as he shook his head. Causing Macao, Wakaba, and Cana to just start laughing at the old man, as the guilds doors were thrown open by a panicked Lucy.

"Master the Council has arrested Natsu." shouted Lucy getting the attention of the whole guild.

"For what?" asked Macao wondering what Natsu got Romeo into.

"I don't know, they wouldn't tell us and they just took him away." replied Lucy.

"What about the others?" asked Master Makarov.

"They're coming, I just ran ahead of them to tell you quicker so we can figure out what to do." explained Lucy.

"That is good to hear, so you really have no idea why the council arrested him?" asked Master Makarov.

"No, and neither does Grey or Erza." stated Lucy.

"What about the rest?" asked Macao.

"What are you talking about Macao?" asked Lucy, but before he could explain the rest of Team Natsu came in.

"Don't run off like that Lucy." said Erza as she gave the blonde a glare.

"But I had to tell them about Natsu getting arrested." declared Lucy as she waved her arms about.

"We don't know if that happened, Lucy we have been over this already." said Erza.

"Could you please explain what exactly happened Erza?" asked Master Makarov, to which Erza did.

"And then they just walked away until we couldn't see them anymore." explained Erza.

"What about the rest of them?" asked Master Makarov.

"Who are you talking about Master, we only saw Natsu there." replied Erza.

"Oh, well then, we have nothing to worry about this is obviously something that only deals with Natsu." stated Master Makarov.

"Wait, who else was supposed to be there and why are you fine now that you heard that they weren't involved?" asked Lucy.

"Natsu is going on a trip with Mira, Levy, Wendy, Romeo, Bisca, Asuka, and the Exceeds and until they return you three are prohibited from leaving Magnolia. And that is an order, do I make myself clear." said Master Makarov.

"What, you can't be serious Master, we were so close to finally catching him." said Erza.

"Yeah Gramps, and we still have time to catch back up to him since you don't think that he is in trouble with the council." declared Grey.

"I never said that Grey, actually I am really concerned for Natsu right now." said Master Makarov with his head down.

"But you said we have nothing to worry about." pointed out Lucy.

"Yes I did, but that is when I thought that the council took some of our members but since they didn't we have nothing to worry about." explained Master Makarov.

"But they took Natsu." said Lucy.

"And as that Commander and the new Chairman pointed out, he is not a member of Fairy Tail and if we used force then like they said Fairy Tail would be disbanded so there is nothing we can do until we know more about what's happening. Once again coming to a point where we have nothing to worry about." replied Master Makarov.

"But Master, you just said that you were worried about him." said Erza.

"Yes I am, and always will be because I see him as my son just like the rest of you. He could very well be in jail right now, but after hearing what the Chairman said I highly doubt that, which honestly concerns me more because why would the Chairman go and personally speak with Natsu. It means that he is up to something and he is a very smart man that was able to climb to the position of Chairman when the New Council was formed and has kept it ever since. With full support from every other council member and most of the Wizard Saints." explained Master Makarov.

"So you have met the new Chairman, what was your opinion of him?" asked Grey.

"He is what the Council needed, someone intelligent enough to handle all the intricacies of politics, while also being able to make changes. He has a strong sense of justice and has been spending a lot of time destroying what allowed the Councils before to be easily corrupted and manipulated. He also is quite the mage, at one point he was considered a candidate for one of the Ten Wizard Saints but turned it down so that he could continue to do his duties from inside the council." said Master Makarov.

"It sounds like he is a really good person to be running the Council, so why are you worried about Natsu then?" asked Erza.

"He is and hopefully this time the Council will focus on the things that are actually important like the safety of the citizens of Fiore and not be concerned only about themselves. What worries me is that this whole meeting with Natsu doesn't make sense at all, he didn't arrest him so what does he want with Natsu?" said Master Makarov while stroking his mustache.

"Well we will be going then Master." said Erza as she and the rest of her team turned around.

"Are you going to disobey a direct order from you Master?" asked Master Makarov in a deep and angry tone.

"Yes I will Master, because it doesn't make sense why you wouldn't let us go after him." said Erza in an angry tone of her own.

"Because I don't want to lose more members Erza." stated Master Makarov with his head down.

"What are you talking about Master, how would us going and seeing Natsu cause Fairy Tail to lose members?" asked Lucy.

"Normally it wouldn't but since we have eight of our members with him right now it could. Think about how it will most likely go down if you return, the most likely situation to happen is for him to bolt leaving behind all of those members behind that he is with right now. He would hate doing that to them, but he would probably do it so that he doesn't have to confront you guys. Now tell me how all of those with him would react to him leaving them just because you guys came?" asked Master Makarov with a frown.

"Well Wendy might actually attack us." stated Erza with a frown.

"Mira would be completely devastated." said Lucy with a frown just like Erza.

"The rest would take it really hard as well; the only ones that might be just sad would be Carla and Bisca. But they would probably be pissed at seeing their loved ones so sad." said Grey as he too followed his teammates in having a frown.

"I am glad that you were all able to see that at least. Now is it that hard to believe that Mira or Wendy might quit to go after him and knowing them it would only take just a day for them to reunite. And if either of them left it is guaranteed that Happy would as well, and Carla will go where ever Wendy is. Now I don't know for sure but I have a feeling that Romeo would probably leave with Wendy as well. Also if either Mira or Wendy left Asuka would be completely devastated, because unlike Natsu they would most likely just be gone with no explanation or present to soften the blow. And as for the final reason that I won't let you go is because I told Mira that I would do everything in my power to make up for my mistake, and this unfortunately means that I have to stop you guys." explained Master Makarov.

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Erza with her head down.

"Keep doing what you are doing right now, and in time Natsu will come around." said Master Makarov.

"But what if he doesn't?" asked Lucy who looked like she was about to cry.

"Don't worry he will, Natsu still cares about his friends to much to not too." replied Master Makarov.

"But he said we aren't that anymore Master, and he also said that we will never be his family again." shouted out Erza who also looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"Did he ever say that to you guys in person?" asked Master Makarov.

"No, but he did say that to Mira." said Grey who looked depressed.

"That he did, but he is still hurting and I think that the reason he is not seeing any of us right now. It is due to the fact that he doesn't actually want to say any of that to us, because just like Mira said, things like that once they are said to the actual person cannot be taken back. Which is something Natsu knows, and is why he is avoiding seeing us at all cost, this gives me hope that he will once again consider us both of those things. It will just take a lot of time, but once the time is right Natsu will let us know." said Master Makarov.

"Are you saying that we should stop looking for him?" asked Lucy.

"If we do that it will be just like he said and he'll think that we don't care anymore." stated Grey.

"I never said that you should stop, and you have a point Grey. Which is why I think that you should only look for him once a month every month until you guys finally get to talk with him." suggested Master Makarov.

"That is a good idea Master, thank you for that, but I am still worried about him." said Erza with a frown.

"If you are really that concerned about him I can call Mira and see what's going on." replied Master Makarov.

"Please Master, I just really want to know that he is okay." said Lucy with sad eyes.

"I will do it right now, but you all must remain quiet while I am talking with her." said Master Makarov as he got out a communication lacrima, and then called Mira with it.

"Hi Master, what can I do for you?" asked Mira and you could hear how happy she was right now.

"Oh I was just wondering how things were going?" asked Master Makarov.

"What do you really want to know Master, I can tell when you are trying to be casual and not raise suspicion." stated Mira losing her friendly tone completely.

"Sorry about that, but I heard rumors that Natsu was being escorted away by the council. Is any of that true Mira?" asked Master Makarov.

"Oh no when did this supposedly happen?" asked Mira sounding a little panicked.

"A little over two hours ago, and calm down Mira I was told that he was walking with them peacefully and wasn't cuffed." explained Master Makarov.

"Oh, sorry about that it just sounded like he was arrested. Actually he did tell me that he was talking with an old friend and that he would meet me at the inn later tonight." said Mira.

"An old friend, did he say who they were or how he knows them?" asked Master Makarov.

"No he didn't Master, and I didn't get to see them either. Do you have some idea who he might be talking with Master?" asked Mira.

"I do since the rumor said that he was walking with someone I know, but I have no idea how they could be old friends." said Master Makarov.

"Master you do know that you didn't give me a name?" said Mira with an irritated tone.

"Oh sorry Mira, Natsu was seen with Isamu Yamamoto." replied Master Makarov.

"Isamu Yamamoto, you don't mean the Isamu Yamamoto that is the Chairman of the Council do you?" asked Mira not believing what the Master told her.

"That is the person Natsu was seen walking with." said Master Makarov.

"What could Isamu Yamamoto want with Natsu?" asked Mira.

"Well that is actually why I called you Mira, I was hoping that you would know." said Master Makarov.

"Sorry Master, I don't know and Natsu hasn't returned yet so I can't even ask him." replied Mira.

"Don't worry Mira, it was probably about how much attention Natsu is getting lately and Isamu Yamamoto is probably asking him to not go back to his old ways." said Master Makarov trying to calm down Mira.

"Yea I guess you are probably right Master, is there anything else?" asked Mira.

"How's everyone else doing?" asked Master Makarov.

"Everyone else is fine, Natsu actually let us buy whatever we wanted and it was all on him." replied Mira happily.

"That was very generous of him." stated Master Makarov.

"You have no idea Master, we were at the Lone Tailor and it has some of the best clothes in all of Fiore." exclaimed Mira happily.

"Are you not concerned about abusing Natsu's generosity?" asked Master Makarov.

"Nope, because I know that having jewels isn't going to be a problem for Natsu ever again." replied Mira very happily.

"And how would you know something like that?" asked Master Makarov.

"Because he has a deal with someone and just made two more today, which means he won't really have to be concerned about it at all. Also didn't he give you gems that were appraised to be worth more than one hundred million jewels Master?" said Mira.

"Yes, but I haven't even used any of it yet since I want to give it back to him." said Master Makarov.

"Wait a minute Mira, are you saying that Natsu is selling two other sets of clothing?" asked Cana causing Master Makarov to glare at her and everyone else wonder what the hell she was talking about.

"Cana, that was supposed to be a secret, and Master why didn't you tell me that everyone else could hear us?" asked Mira in a pissed off tone.

"Because I didn't know if you would talk about Natsu as openly as you did and everyone is just really concerned." explained Master Makarov.

"If that is the case then I am fine with it, and yes Cana his clothing collection just added two new lines to it. One is based off of Wendy's new outfit while the other one is two dresses that I picked out for a more formal setting." said Mira happily.

"Wow, so Natsu is going to be a King that is rich and has a hot body while also being kind and caring and probably one of the loyalist guys out there. I am going to have to step up my game before someone else snags that golden goose." said Cana with a big grin knowing that Mira couldn't see her right now.

"Cana, I am only going to say this once back off otherwise you will have to deal with the demon." said Mira forgetting that everyone else could hear it.

"I don't know Mira, it seems like it is easily worth the risk. So my advice is use this alone time you have with him while you still have it." replied Cana with a huge smile, and shocking the rest of the guild that she was provoking the demon.

"Don't worry about that Cana, you never had a chance and I am done with this call." said Mira as she hung up.

"She forgot that we were all listening didn't she?" asked Wakaba.

"Yep, and now you all know that I am correct, there is definitely something going on between those two." said Cana while laughing.

"How can you be laughing like that after what you just said to Mira?" asked Macao concerned about his drinking buddy.

"Because like I said earlier, Mira just needed a little push and I am that push. She will thank me for it later." replied Cana with a big grin.

"Well I am concerned for you Cana, she sounded pretty pissed." said Wakaba.

"You all should be more concerned about yourself if she learns that you all heard that, she won't care about me because we were the ones having the conversation but you guys I am not too sure about." said Cana with a big grin.

"You are never, and I mean never bring up anything that you heard in the last ten minutes. If anyone does they will be punished with THAT." declared Master Makarov causing everyone to have a shiver go up their spins just at the thought of it.

"Yes sir." the guild shouted together.

 **Back to Natsu when he went outside for some air:**

"Shit, what the hell are they doing here?" Natsu muttered to himself as he caught the scent of his old team. When looking at their direction he noticed a whole bunch of Rune Knights near them as a group of them escorted a man towards him.

"Well if it isn't the Salamander the mage that all of Fiore can't get enough of." said the man as he and the Rune Knights came up to Natsu.

"Well you know that you didn't need to do all of this for little old me, Isamu Yamamoto or do you prefer Chairman?" asked Natsu with a little smirk.

"Actually I did Natsu, you are actually a hard man to track down when you don't want to be found. As for what to call me I couldn't care less, whatever you would prefer, and what would you like to be called Mr. Dragneel?" asked the Chairman with his own smirk.

"Well Isamu I am just like you and don't really care what anyone calls me, so what do I owe the pleasure of getting a visit from the Chairman of the Council no less?" asked Natsu.

"Well Natsu there is actually a lot I would like to discuss with you, if that would be alright with you that is." said Isamu Yamamoto.

"It looks like you are not giving me any choice here." replied Natsu as he gestured at the Rune Knights that were all around.

"Oh them, they are strictly here for my protection, but I can definitely see how you would think otherwise. Considering how the old Council always treated you as if you were their enemy, it doesn't surprise me that you aren't the biggest fan of Rune Knights. You are free to decline my invitation for a chat but I would highly recommend that you don't, I have a feeling that you might like what I have to say to you Natsu." said Isamu Yamamoto with a smile.

"You know why not, but I have to tell my friends that they can go on without me." replied Natsu with a grin.

"If you want I can have one of the Rune Knights tell them." said Isamu Yamamoto as he gestured towards Team Natsu.

"Those were not the ones who I was referring to; they are just members from my old guild. And don't worry just give me a second to call one of my friends and then we can be off." explained Natsu causing the Chairman to raise an eyebrow at Natsu just calling his old team just members.

"Hey Mira, I ran into an old friend and we have some things to discuss so I will meet you back at the inn later tonight if that is okay?" asked Natsu.

"Sure thing Natsu, and have fun and try to stay out of trouble." replied Mira.

"I will try my best Mira, but no promises." said Natsu and then ended the call.

"Alright Isamu Yamamoto, I am ready to go now." stated Natsu.

"Then come with me we have a lot to discuss." replied Isamu Yamamoto.

"Alright, let me hear it." said Natsu with a grin.

"Well since you seem to know me, I assume you know what I am trying to do?" asked Isamu Yamamoto while looking at Natsu.

"If I had to sum it up in as few words as possible, you are trying to make the Council into what it should have always been. An organization that's main concern is the wellbeing of the citizens of Fiore and its main focus for that is making sure that magic isn't being used as a tool of evil. Is that what you are trying to do Isamu?" asked Natsu.

"That is correct, and I mean no offence by this but why did you put up that fake façade of an idiot or a man child if you will?" asked Isamu Yamamoto.

"None taken, and there were many reasons for it, such as you are instantly assumed too stupid to understand certain things and people will speak freely in front of you when they wouldn't otherwise. Also it made everyone underestimate me, which is always a good thing because then they will have openings that they otherwise wouldn't have had. I have a few other reasons but I think that I will keep those to myself for now." explained Natsu.

"I knew it, there is no way an actual idiot could have won as often as you did. But everyone just said that I was looking into it too much and was seeing things that weren't there." replied the Isamu with a confident smirk.

"That sounds like you have been following my career for quite a while." stated Natsu with his own smirk now knowing that the Chairman of the Council was one of his fans.

"I have Natsu, and I noticed that the council's records on you are actually very absent of details that they usually have. Do you have any idea why that would be Natsu?" asked Isamu with a sly grin.

"Well if I had to guess it would probably be because of the old Council and I butted heads a lot. And they were getting ready to remove me if the need should ever arise, and in order for that to be done easily they needed to have it so that there wasn't any factual proof of all my past good deeds. That is one of my theories, but one that I feel is probably the most likely, another is that Jellal was a complete dick and got rid of them." answered Natsu and chuckled about his comment about Jellal.

"You are indeed a bright young lad, I can only assume you had some plans if they tried to do that to you?" asked Isamu with a small smile on his face.

"I did, I actually had a few, but a few of them are no longer available and the others I am going to keep just in case." replied Natsu giving the Chairman a big grin.

"It's good to see that you are still planning ahead and are not trusting me yet, that is something that needs to be earned and I plan on doing just that." said Isamu Yamamoto.

"We are both of the same mind on that Isamu, and you are the first Chairman that I actually like so far. I can see you accomplishing great things for the Council, and those will just benefit Fiore all the more, unlike most of your predecessors. As far as I could tell from my research on you, you actually care about justice and what is right and wrong, you don't seemed to be driven by a quest for power, right now I don't know what drives you but I intend to find out sometime. You are also gifted in magic and keep working at it which is something that usually doesn't happen when a mage is on the council. You are also incredibly smart, which is how you easily made your way up to Chairman and have been able to keep it while somehow maintaining peace with the rest of the Council, which is completely unheard of." said Natsu with a straight face.

"Thank you Natsu, that means a lot to me coming from a mage that I respect so much. I would go so far as to say that you and me are quite similar in a lot of those traits that you said about me, and both of us are mainly driven by our need to try and do what's right. And you are even willing to risk your life over and over for what you believe is right, something that I wish I could say about myself but can't, it's one of the reasons that I admire you so much. It's truly a rare thing to find in such a gifted mage like you, and also at such a young age, but after reading your past I would say you were forced to grow up fast. Even though everyone thought you were stuck at the age of ten." replied Isamu also having a straight face.

"Thank you, and as I said before it seems that you have looked into me quite thoroughly. So might I ask, what is this really about because as fun as it is to tell each other the good traits of the other, I know that you have some other purpose for wanting to speak to me but I can't figure out why." said Natsu cutting through the crap and now getting down to business.

"Straight to business after the pleasantries, I am like that as well, so I am going to just come out and say it. I want you to work for the Council; I need more people like you working within the Council. Otherwise I am afraid that all the work I am putting into it right now will all be for nothing in just ten years." said Isamu with a frown just thinking about how quick his work could just fade away.

"I will admit that thought did cross my mind as a reason for you coming to see me, but I dismissed it because there is no place in the Council that could make use of me. While also not forcing me to do something that I don't want, because that is not how you operate if there is a different solution to the problem. I did think at one point that you might be offering me a place on the Ten Wizard Saint, but there is no opening available and you are not going to kick one of them off just for me and possibly making a powerful enemy in the process. So as you can see Isamu I have thought this out and don't see what you could be offering me that would actually be a tempting offer, which I am assuming that this is otherwise you wouldn't have actually come yourself. You would have sent a messenger if there was a high probability of me turning this down, so please enlighten me Isamu on what you offer is." said Natsu as the stopped in the middle of a park.

"Once again I am impressed by your intellect and how much thought you put into that, probably more than most would have even though everyone thought of you as an idiot. But that is beside the point here, yes you are completely correct about all of your assessments which is why the Council and I have decided to offer you the position of the Council's Enforcer." said Isamu with a big smile.

"You came up with a new position just for me, now you have me really intrigued Isamu." said Natsu as he sat down on a bench with the Chairman following suit.

"Indeed Natsu, and as the name implies you will be the person who we call upon when our rules are being broken and then enforce them. If there is a guild that is out of line we will send you there to fix the problem." said Isamu Yamamoto.

"I am assuming that there's more to this because right now it sounds like a nightmare to me." said Natsu with a chuckle.

"It does, doesn't it." replied Isamu while chuckling with Natsu.

"Okay Natsu you are right there is more to your position, such as you are able to use inventive ways to try and get guilds to listen to you as long as they don't cause death and mass destruction. Another part of your job that I know you will be a fan of is that we will ask for your help in destroying dark guilds. But rest assured we won't be asking you to go alone, you will have your own regimen of Rune Knights that will be yours to train and use as you see fit." explained Isamu.

"That would be tempting for most, but I really don't see myself as a leader despite what anyone else says about me." replied Natsu.

"I knew that about you which is why the regimen would have their own Commander to listen to when you don't feel like leading them. And I already have the perfect candidate for the Commander; he's someone that you have actually worked with before on a few occasions. Unfortunately not always under the best circumstances but that is how life is, and that man would be Doranbolt. So what are your thoughts on that Natsu?" asked Isamu Yamamoto hoping that it was an offer that seemed a little tempting right now.

"That definitely makes it a lot better than a few seconds ago when I thought I would be leading a regimen of Rune Knights. It is actually a really tempting offer and it would allow me to face tough opponents in both dark and light guilds and probably allow me to do more good than I could ever accomplish while alone. I can only assume that you have a few more things to make this more enticing for me?" asked Natsu giving the man beside him a small smirk.

"Like I said we are very similar, especially with how we think things through. This next one I really don't know if it will entice you or scare you away from the position, even though this isn't part of your actual job description, but we would like to make you the face of the Council. Now let me explain that fully Natsu, what I mean by that is we would want you to keep doing what you are doing, possibly a few more interviews here and there with the occasional photoshoot as well with your friend Mira if you wanted. We would also like you to occasionally go to some public events as our representative, like I said before you would pretty much be doing the same thing that you doing now, but it would be as a representative of the Council since we would of course be advertising that you are one of us. I know that you can see how advantageous this would be for us, and that this could possibly restore some of the faith in the Council, that was lost by the previous failures. For a lot of people just knowing that the Salamander the man that stopped the dragon invasion would be enough to restore some faith in us, and if you do a good job like I know that you would, the others will regain it slowly." explained Isamu with a pleading look in his eyes.

"I assume that I will always be able to state my opinion on all matters and will never be forced to say something that I don't actually believe. And that I will also be able to turn down some of these events if I don't want to go to them." asked Natsu with his serious face on.

"I wouldn't dream of trying to make you a puppet Natsu, actually I will probably ask you to join the occasional Council meeting to get your opinions on things. So yes Natsu, you will always be allowed to state your opinion even if it is in opposition of the Council, which I hope that it will never happen but as we both know, you can never actually say something will never happen. And actually all of the events can be turned down if you would choose so, but like I said we will still be using you as the face of the Council, through other forms of advertising. Also if things do get bad you can always quit which will be the last thing that the rest of the Council wants to happen once you become the face." said Isamu Yamamoto knowing that Natsu was probably already thinking about that being a possible option.

"Okay, as you said before that really isn't an incentive but it also doesn't deter me like it would have a few months ago. I made sure of that, by becoming the man in the spotlight with how I left Fairy Tail, now somewhat regretting that I put all of that attention on me. But hey it's in the past now and if I didn't do that then I probably would have already turned this offer down. So what is the next one that is an incentive unlike the last one?" asked Natsu as he watched Isamu Yamamoto carefully.

"Well the last one is that if you took this position you would be considered an equal to all of the Wizard Saints and get all of the benefits that they do. Such as going to their meeting whenever you felt like it, you will also be paid unlike the Wizard Saints and get your own medallion that will identify you. Which probably will never be a problem, but it is better to have it and not need it rather than not having it when you do. One of the reasons that we are ranking you at Wizard Saint level is due to the fact that you might have to fight a Wizard Saint when visiting a guild, and we don't want them trying to pull rank on you when in fact you would be ranked in between number four and five. And considering that you now have that fancy way of teleporting you will still be able to keep looking for that mystery person or whatever it is that you are looking for." replied Isamu Yamamoto hoping that Natsu was now on board.

"This is a very tempting offer like I knew it would be, so I am going to ask a few questions. How many men will be in my regimen and you said that I could train and do whatever I see fit with them, which I assume means that I will be able to choose their gear?" asked Natsu resting his chin on his fists.

"It will be two hundred Rune Knights that will be broken down into four groups of fifty that will each have a company leader that will be directly under the command of Doranbolt your commander unless you want someone else. As for the gear, yes you will be able to choose it as long as it still meets the safety requirements of a normal uniform." answered Isamu Yamamoto while studying Natsu and his reactions which were miniscule.

"Good to hear and I would definitely want Doranbolt, like you said trust has to be earned and Doranbolt has already done that with me. My next and final question is actually quite trivial but what would my medallion look like and would that be the emblem that are on my soldiers?" asked Natsu watching the sun starting to descend.

"We were thinking something like this since it seems to be your one thing that is consistent, and yes it would be on the uniforms of your troops, since your troops are a special division." said Isamu as he pulled out a medallion and passed it over to Natsu.

The background was black and it was trimmed in red. At the center of it was a red dragon's head, with its mouth open breathing out white and orange flames. And in the center of those flames was the blue symbol of the Council.

"I take it the dragon was for me?" asked Natsu with an amused smirk on his face.

"Yes it was Natsu, but it was also used since the wrath of a dragon is something on one wants to face. Which with time is what we hope your group and you would become known as to all the dark guilds." answered Isamu with a smile.

"Can I point something out; this medallion has way too many colors it's too over whelming. What I want is this same design but have the base made out of silver and then have everything except for the Council's emblem, which will remain a solid blue, all trimmed in red. And I guess if you wanted to fancy it up have gems for the eyes of the dragon." said Natsu with a big grin.

"Did I here you correctly, and you said what you wanted on your medallion, does that mean you are accepting this position?" asked Isamu Yamamoto excitedly and didn't care that he was showing it.

"Yes but once again I have some more question, do you already have my troops picked out and when are you going to make this public knowledge?" asked Natsu looking at the excited Chairman.

"No we don't have them picked out; we were going to have Doranbolt do it since it will take a while. But if you want to that will be no problem Natsu." said Isamu Yamamoto.

"No, I think I will enjoy my free time while Doranbolt does that, and I actually think he will do a better job than I ever could." replied Natsu.

"Good to hear Natsu, and as for announcing to the public about this new division, we were thinking of waiting for the Grand Magic Games. Where all of Fiore will be watching making it the perfect place to announce this don't you think?" asked Isamu Yamamoto with a smile.

"Yes it would be Isamu, even though I am not a fan of them, it would definitely be the easiest time and place to spread the word." said Natsu as he nodded his head in agreement.

"I am so glad that you accepted Natsu, with this you and I will be able to help so many more people." said Isamu with a big grin.

"That was the main reason I accepted, so when will you need me to start training my troops?" asked Natsu.

"We should hopefully have them all picked in about a week, which is why I need to give you this watch. It's the newest and best in communication lacrima while being hidden as a watch, it can send out a distress signal and it can also do projection communication if wanted. The best feature is that you won't be able to detect that it is actually a communication lacrima, even with the best scans that we have right now. As you can see here it has the direct contact with me and the other Council members, and the ones that you will probably use the most are Doranbolts and the four of your company leaders." said the Chairman as he showed Natsu how to use it and then gave it to him.

"This is a really nifty tool, well in that case I actually have something to give you so that I can actually teleport to where every, we're training or back to the Council building." said Natsu as he re-equipped twenty of his homemade lacrimas.

"This will definitely come in very handy, thank you Natsu. Might I ask what they are exactly?" asked the Chairman.

"They are just lacrimas that I have put my fire into, but man are those empty lacrimas expensive." answered Natsu.

"Well don't buy any more of them; we will supply you with as many as you could possibly want. If it could actually be arranged we would want five of these in each Council building across Fiore in case of an emergency." said Isamu Yamamoto as he examined the lacrima.

"I don't know about that, it seems like over kill why not just two. Oh and by the way I can feel whenever they are used, if you were thinking about trying to study my dragon slayer magic." said Natsu in a tone that made clear he wanted no one poking around his magic.

"Always suspicious, probably why you are still around, it's a good thing to have. And I of course wouldn't dream of something like that Natsu, but it does bring up a good point that others would. So as of right now we will table the idea of having them in every council building until we come up with a solution to prevent that from happening." said the Chairman as he scratched his beard.

"Like you said it has probably saved my life a few times, so let's go get something to eat, so we can discuss this new job of mine and other things over some food and drink." said Natsu as he got up and headed to the nearest restaurant with the Chairman. They stayed there until eleven thirty talking about all sorts of thing, like what they wanted the future Council to be, and over all just got to know each other a lot better. But Natsu knew that they would have plenty of time in the future to discuss such matters so he said his farewells and headed to the inn that he and his friends were staying at. As soon as he opened the door to his and Mira's room he was tackled to the ground by a frightened white haired beauty.

"Thank Mavis you're back Natsu, I couldn't help thinking that they arrested you after I learned who you friend was." said Mira holding back her tears.

"It's okay Mira I am right here and how did you figure out who I was talking to and why did that make you think I got arrested?" asked Natsu as he awkwardly got up with Mira still hugging him.

"Well the guild called hearing a rumor that Isamu Yamamoto was escorting you away with a bunch of Rune Knights and were worried." answered Mira.

"HAHAHA a rumor is that what they are calling information they get directly form a member now." said Natsu with a chuckle as he brought Mira into their room.

"What was that Natsu?" asked Mira.

"It was nothing, but that still doesn't explain why you thought that I was arrested." said Natsu as he looked down at her and noticed that she was wearing a new nightgown that was pretty much none existent. Making him wonder how this was in any way different than what she was wearing last night, well actually this had less material making it even more revealing. But that didn't explain to him why Mira was completely okay with being seen in this and wasn't last night, but Natsu just had to chalk that up to being a women.

"Well considering your track record with the Council it is not that crazy of a thing to happen." explained Mira.

"You have a point their Mira, but this is a new Council that seems like it is really trying to do things right this time." stated Natsu.

"And how do you know that Natsu?" asked Mira.

"How about I tell you once we get into bed." said Natsu with a big smirk.

"Sounds like a great idea Natsu." replied Mira as they climbed into bed together.

"Aren't you forgetting something Mira." said Natsu as he pointed at the light.

"But I am already in and you are so comfy." said Mira as they already got into the position that they were sleeping in last night.

"You did say that you would get it the next time." pointed out Natsu with a smirk.

"Come on Natsu, please for me." begged Mira with a cute puppy dog face.

"Fine." said Natsu as he light a small fire in his hand and then directed it towards the light, were it stayed until the light lacrima was burned to nothing.

"That wasn't what I really had in mind." stated Mira with a small smirk.

"Yea but you didn't think about the fact that if I got up you would lose your comfy position, did you Mira?" asked Natsu looking at her.

"Good point that was a brilliant way to deal with the light problem." said Mira while giggling.

"Now to answer how I know that this Council is different is because I have been watching and monitoring them since the Tartaros incident." answered Natsu.

"How?" asked Mira.

"I know a few people that owe me big so it was actually really easy." explained Natsu while also not telling her much.

"Okay, so what took you so long with Isamu Yamamoto?" asked Mira.

"We had a lot to discuss, and it turns out that we are very similar. And he asked me to do something to help protect Fiore, which required a whole lot of discussing before we could reach an agreement." said Natsu.

"So you accepted, and what is it that you are going to be doing?" asked Mira.

"Yes I accepted, but I am not going to tell you what it is, it's a secret that I have to keep for a while but I will tell you as soon as I can Mira, I promise." said Natsu giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"I know you will, but it isn't really dangerous is it?" asked Mira concerned about the dragon slayer.

"No more dangerous than what I am doing now, actually it might be safer." replied Natsu.

"Well if that is the case than I am all for you doing it then." said Mira happily that Natsu might be in less danger soon.

"Just remember that you said that Mira when I tell you what it is, so what did everyone buy?" asked Natsu.

"I will Natsu, and I know that you would lose interest if I told you everything that everyone bought." said Mira as she enjoyed that her and Natsu were sleeping like this now.

"I don't know about that Mira, I am confident that I would stay interested if you told me about you and your other outfits like this." said Natsu as tugged on her nightgown a little bit, causing Mira to let out a little squeal and start blushing, but no one could see that.

"Natsu don't do that." said Mira while she playfully hit him.

"Why not Mira, I thought that little squeal of yours was cute, and I am guessing that the blush you have right now is so adorable." teased Natsu as he did another tug somewhere else on her nightgown getting the same reaction from her.

"Natsu I am warning you, you better stop it." said Mira as she hit him again just like last time.

"See you say that Mira, but your actions and the fact that you are wearing this says otherwise." whispered Natsu into her ear as he did it again.

"I warned you Natsu." replied Mira as her hand shot down to Natsu's boxers and pulled them down about an inch, shocking Natsu at her bold action.

"Mira did you ever think that this could be exactly what I wanted?" asked Natsu in a soft whisper.

"Well what if it's something that I wanted to Natsu?" asked Mira back, once again surprising Natsu but causing him to have a huge smile grow.

"I also know that you aren't that type of guy Natsu." said Mira since Natsu didn't respond.

"You don't know that Mira." refuted Natsu only causing Mira to giggle.

"You can deny it all you want Natsu, but that still doesn't make it true. Goodnight Natsu." said Mira as she had just found a really comfy spot on Natsu and closed her eyes to go to sleep.

"Goodnight Mira." replied Natsu as he started to go to sleep while smelling the heavenly scent of Mira.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. So it looks like it turned into three chapters for Natsu to do all that he wants with his friends, but hey I should be able to wrap up everything in the next chapter. Then who knows where Natsu will go or who he will meet. So as always feel free to leave me a review, tell me what worked or what didn't.**

 **Until the Next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	24. Friends meeting Friends

Chapter 24: Friends meeting Friends

Through some miracle Natsu with the help of Mira for some reason, convinced the rest of their group to walk all the way to the city that housed Lamia Scale. Just like the last time that Natsu did this trip about three months ago nothing to interesting happened, they talked about some random things nothing too serious since no one wanted to stop the fun that they were having. Natsu would carry Asuka most of the time on his shoulders during the day and before they called it a day, he, Asuka, Wendy and Romeo would train for another two hours. After which they would fall asleep almost instantly leaving the adults and exceeds awake.

What surprised Levy and Bisca was how close Mira and Natsu would be to one another, and how they acted all sweet to one another. They didn't tease them about it because they knew how precious this time was for Mira and didn't want to ruin it, they both also wanted to stay alive for a few more years so they decided that they would pick on her later for it. But what they never expected to see when waking up in the morning was Mira no longer in her spot by them, but was over sleeping with Natsu. With a very content smile on her face while Natsu was holding on to her protectively, once again they did nothing knowing that if they so much as mentioned this Mira would do unspeakable things to them for possibly ruining it. This happened every night during their trip to Lamia Scale, which the group happened to be in front of as of right now.

"So do you think that you will be able to do that for me, Wendy?" asked Natsu with a big grin on his face with Asuka resting her head on this hat, smiling at her.

"Of course Natsu-nii, it's just hoping in there and getting her right?" asked Wendy not really understanding why Natsu was making this sound harder than it had to be.

"Yea that is what you would think, but somehow whenever something pertains to me it becomes troublesome." stated Natsu with a frown.

"Well that is because you make it that way Natsu." said Mira then giggling at his facial expression he made after hearing her say that.

"Oh come on Mira, you know that I don't do any of this on purpose it just seems to get out of hand all of the time." stated Natsu as he started to pout.

"Yea but that is the problem Natsu, you not trying causes half of those situations to start." replied Mira with a big smile.

"Whatever Mira, I can never win against you. So Wendy would you mind going in and getting her so that we can go visit Emi?" asked Natsu not wanting to be seen right now in front of Lamia Scale.

"Sorry Natsu-nii, I am on it right now." replied Wendy and dashing into the guild. What Wendy first saw shocked her, the guild was surprisingly crowded but the atmosphere was at an all-time low. It appeared that all of the members of Lamia Scale had been working themselves to the bone and now taking a well-deserved rest, forced on all of the members of Lamia Scale by their Master Ooba.

"Hello everyone is Chelia here?" asked Wendy getting the whole guild to look at her in surprise. Then erupting into a whole lot of noise, every member trying to ask her a wide variety of questions ranging from will you go out with me all the way to where the hell is the Salamander. And of course many different questions in between, all of it was just too overwhelming for little Wendy.

"Quiet all of you, can't you see that all of you asking her different question at the same time is too much for her. Besides she already said why she was here and it wasn't for any of you, so go back to whatever you were doing before." shouted Sherry getting all of the members to surprisingly do as she said.

"Sorry about that Wendy, things have been hectic around here lately. And this forced day off isn't sitting to well for most of the members." stated Sherry with a warm smile.

"And why is that Sherry?" asked Wendy wondering what caused the usually calm guild to be like this.

"Well I guess I might as well tell you, even though you probably guessed it. But Lamia Scale has been trying to find Natsu this whole time, and our members have been doing that by doing as many jobs as they can all across Fiore. Even though he appears to show up where ever he pleases while somehow still being a head of all the guilds trying to find him." explained Sherry nervously, knowing how much Wendy looks up to him.

"HEHEHEHE, only Natsu could get a guild like yours to become that lively and active. Also just a heads up, he won't be found unless he wants to be found. His old team has been pretty much been looking for him nonstop." said Wendy while giggling.

"Well you took that a lot better than I thought you would, considering that I just told you that we were trying to recruit him away from Fairy Tail." said Sherry as she motioned for Wendy to follow her through the guild.

"Well after reading that first article he did I realized that almost all of the guilds were going to try and get him before the Grand Magic Games. I would have been surprised if you told me that you guys weren't trying to recruit him." replied Wendy with a bright smile.

"I bet you are right on that Wendy, any way Chelia is in our Library right down this hall and to the left." said Sherry as she pointed down the hall way.

"Thanks Sherry." said Wendy as she took off down the hall.

"Chelia where are you?" asked Wendy as she peaked her head into the library.

"Wendy is that you?" asked Chelia while at the top of a ladder used to reach the higher shelves.

"Yes it is Chelia, and I have a surprise for you." stated Wendy with a smirk.

"Let me come down first." replied Chelia as she climbed down.

"Wow Wendy, when did you get a new outfit?" asked Chelia looking at Wendy who was wearing what she picked out with the addition of a blue tie.

"Oh this I got a few weeks ago, but it isn't the surprise." replied Wendy with a big grin as she gave Chelia a hug.

"Are you going to tell me or are you going to make me guess it?" asked Chelia with a big smile happy that her close friend came for a visit.

"How about you guess while we walk to where it is." suggested Wendy.

"Sounds like a plan Wendy so lead the way, is it something that you know I am going to like?" asked Chelia.

"I can guarantee that you will." responded Wendy.

"Okay, is it some sort of food?" asked Chelia.

"Nope, if it was I would have just brought it with me." replied Wendy.

"So that means it is something that you couldn't bring into the guild." stated Chelia as she started to think of reasons why Wendy couldn't bring it inside.

"Is it too big to get through the front doors?" asked Chelia.

"Nope, there is a different reason why I didn't bring it to you." answered Wendy with a big smirk.

"Okay, let me think about this a different way then." said Chelia as she scratched her chin.

"Well you better hurry since we are almost out of your guild." said Wendy with a big grin.

"Is it an object of any sort?" asked Chelia thinking that it was going to be answered with a yes, so there for not really helping her at all.

"Nope." replied Wendy with the biggest grin possible. Causing Chelia to stop and think, for a bit when all of a sudden her eyes got really big and looked at Wendy trying to see if she was lying to her. And she couldn't see any trace of deceit in them so she took off and went through the doors in a flash, standing to the side was Natsu Dragneel in his grey pinstriped outfit minus the coat and blazer. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and on top of his shoulders was a little girl that was familiar to Chelia but right now that didn't matter.

"Natsu you actually came." shouted Chelia as she jumped him with a hug.

"HAHAHA of course I did Chelia, I said I would and I am a man of my word." replied Natsu as he gave her a one armed hug back.

"I know you are, but with everything that has been happening I wouldn't have been surprised if you forgot." stated Chelia.

"How in the world would I have forgotten about you and Emi?" asked Natsu with a big grin.

"Hi Uncle Natsu's sister." said Asuka from on top of Natsu causing those around to be taken aback by such a comment.

"Sorry Asuka but you are wrong, me and Chelia are not related, at least as far as I know." replied Natsu, while Chelia was now thinking to herself that they better not be otherwise some of her thoughts and dreams that she has had would become way worse than they already were.

"Are you sure uncle Natsu, because you two have the same hair color." said Asuka as she pointed at Chelia's Hair.

"HAHAHA, come on Asuka you know that it takes more than just hair color to be related, me and Cheila are just really close friends who happen to have very similar hair colors that are awesome." said Natsu as he started to lead the group away from the Lamia Scale guild.

"Yea, but it would have been cool if she was uncle Natsu because then that would have made her my aunt." said Asuka happily not realizing that she says somethings that could embarrass others.

"Sorry about her Chelia, she really just says whatever is on her mind. I wonder where she picked that up from?" whispered Bisca at the beginning and speaking normally the last part so Natsu could hear her while she sent him a glare.

"I heard that Bisca and you know that glare only works if you are actually mad at me." stated Natsu causing the other member of the group to laugh a little.

"Why is mom glaring at you uncle Natsu?" asked Asuka as she looked back at her mother who was now just smiling.

"Because she doesn't like how you picked up my habit of saying whatever you're thinking." replied Natsu with a big grin.

"That's not true, because if it was then you would know that I am wondering what yours and Mira's kid would look like." said Asuka then quickly covering her mouth with her hands. Natsu instantly started to laugh at Asuka's antics while everyone else was snickering that is except for two of them. Mira was blushing immensely at the comment and was now starting to wonder what they would look like, while Chelia on the other had felt a little sad that Mira was seen as Natsu's wife while she was seen as his sister. But she quickly put those thoughts away and was determined to have a good day with Natsu and her friends from Fairy Tail.

"So were they ruggedly handsome like me or beautiful like Mira?" asked Natsu after he was done laughing.

"She looked like a little aunt Mira with salmon hair just like you uncle Natsu." said Asuka with a big grin.

"So I am hearing beautiful with an awesome hair color, what type of magic did she have?" asked Natsu with a big grin causing Mira to blush even more since Natsu didn't seemed bothered at all about talking to Asuka about this.

"She could change her body like Mira but she was also like you because she could do everything that you do uncle Natsu, and when she changed it was like she was a half dragon half human." explained Asuka giddily.

"Wow that would be awesome wouldn't it. So were you two close in this little dream of yours Asuka?" asked Natsu.

"Yea we were, I was like her older sister and we did everything together." said Asuka as she continued on telling Natsu all that she and his future daughter were going to do together, with Natsu occasionally asking a question or making a funny comment.

"He is something else." stated Bisca as she watched her daughter have the time of her life with her uncle.

"You can say that again, he was that good with Emi after he saved her. He was able to almost get her to completely forget about it. Was he always that good with children?" asked Chelia looking at the rest of the group.

"Yep, he was the same way with me when I would visit the guild with my dad. Natsu just has a way to make you feel like you are not some kid when you are with him. At least for me he made me feel like we were equals, even though I knew that he was stronger than me and could do so much more than me. It's one of the reasons that I looked up to him, as more than a big brother figure." said Romeo.

"He raised me since I was an egg." replied Happy with a big grin.

"When I first joined Fairy Tail he did the same thing that he did for Romeo for me and constantly encouraged me no matter what I was trying to do. Always saying that I could do whatever I put my mind to, because I was the daughter of the great sky dragon Grandine." said Wendy with a fond smile.

"As soon as you guys returned Natsu and Asuka hit it off as if they had known each other their whole lives. Alzack and I are considering to have Natsu be the person that takes care of Asuka, if god forbids something happens to both of us." said Bisca which shocked both Levy and Mira, that they both trusted Natsu that much. But then again after seeing the two of them together it actually made complete sense.

"Well I don't have any stories like that of him, but I still remember him always sticking up for me when we were little. Beating up anyone who tried to say that I was weak, I can still remember him saying that it requires more than just strength to be strong, you need to be smart and caring just like Levy, which makes her stronger right now than you'll ever be." said Levy also having a big smile as she watched Natsu laughing with Asuka ahead of them.

"Natsu is probably going to hate that I am telling you all of this but whenever he passes an orphanage. He will stop and give them whatever jewels he has on him, and then afterwards spend a few hours with the children. Telling him about his adventures and playing with them, making them know that things will get better. He also always informs them that he was orphaned twice and look at what he was able to do, if he could do that then so could they." said Mira the whole time never taking her eyes off of the dragon slayer.

"I am going to take that as a yes then." said Chelia with a little giggle.

"Hey slow pokes, were almost there and you guys are just now deciding to slow down." said Natsu with a grin on his face.

"Slow pokes, we are right behind you two." said Levy wondering why Natsu said that.

"Not for long." said Asuka and the next second her and Natsu were almost out of sight already. And all they could hear was the laughter of the two as they slowly disappeared from their sight.

"Do any of you know where we are going?" asked Romeo as he looked at all of the women and two exceeds.

"Nope." replied all of them still smiling.

"Why are you all smiling, we just lost those two and have no idea where they are now?" asked Romeo thinking that they all might have gone crazy.

"Romeo you are forgetting that I am a dragon slayer also." said Wendy as she pointed at her nose.

"Whoops, I don't know why but I forget that you can smell just like Natsu." replied Romeo with a grin.

"Well actually not as good as him but close." said Wendy.

"So do any of you know where we are meeting Emi at?" asked Chelia looking to the others since she didn't know about any of this until minutes ago.

"Nope and there is a good chance that they don't know that we are coming either." answered Levy with a smile.

"It's good to see that Natsu is still the lovable guy that we grew up with." said Mira with a big smile, confident that he will stay a good guy even after everything that has happened.

"Were you concerned that he was going to change?" asked Chelia.

"Yea and he has, for the most part all of it for the better if you would ask someone who doesn't know him. But for a while there I was concerned that the guy who wanted to see others happy was going to fade away, but just seeing him interact with Asuka has completely gotten rid of my fears. Granted he will probably no longer try and make everyone happy like he used to, but that was an impossible task. It looks as if now he is only going to be focusing that onto his friends." explained Mira as they then walked into a park and middle of it was Natsu who had two little girls sitting on him laughing with each other about how they have Natsu pinned.

"Hi there Chelia and you must be friends of the Salamander." said a woman coming up to the group.

"Hi Maria, I see that Emi is already having fun with Natsu and Asuka." replied Chelia while giving the woman a hug. The rest of the group all greeted Maria and introduced themselves.

"Well as you probably guessed I am the mother of the little girl in the fedora, her name's Emi." said Maria with a proud smile.

"That hat looks just like Natsu's." said Romeo.

"It would since it was his hat until he gave it to Emi last time he was here. Now Emi takes it everywhere with her, it amazed me how quickly she warmed up to Natsu." said Maria with a smile.

"We were actually just talking about his ability to just connect with kids unlike most adults. And I am the mother of the other little girl that really seems to be enjoying whatever they are doing to Natsu." said Bisca with a warm smile.

"Your daughter is lovely, and quite friendly the first thing that she did was ask Emi if they could be friends." said Mira with a small grin.

"Emi is quite lovely as well, and Asuka has already declared to me that any friend of Natsu's is a friend of hers." replied Bisca while shaking her head a little.

"She definitely picked a very unique role model, not that I am saying anything is wrong with Natsu. He's just not like anyone else that I have ever met; when he saved Emi he wouldn't even take a reward. He actually gave her a gift and promised to visit if it was okay with us." said Mira as she led them to some benches and sat down.

"He is different and honestly I am really glad my Asuka looks up to him. He has all of the traits that I want Asuka to have once she grows up, granted there are a few odd ones that she is picking up, but in comparison to all the great ones it is a no brainer to let her idolize him." said Bisca as she sat down next to Maria.

"Like what may I ask, because I think that my daughter might be idolizing him too?" asked Maria with an eyebrow raised.

"You have nothing to worry about, but one of the weirder ones is she is now calling the color pink, salmon because that is what Natsu tells everyone his hair color is." answered Bisca with a smile, causing Maria to laugh at it.

"What else, because that doesn't seem to be that bad?" asked Maria trying to contain her giggles at what a strange thing to pick up.

"Well she also doesn't lie anymore, but along with that she will almost always say whatever is on her mind. And I mean whatever is on her mind like on our way her she told Natsu what she thought Mira and his kid would look like, and how it was going to be a girl and that they would do everything together as if they were sisters." replied Bisca with a smirk knowing that Mira would start blushing.

"That is quite the odd thing to pick up, but overall not that bad." said Maria while giggling at it.

"Like I said, the odd ones are not that bad when you get the ones like: loyal, kind, caring, not lying, even polite. And that last one really shocked me, because Natsu was never known for being polite, but whenever he is around Asuka he is." said Bisca with a smile.

"So Mira, when are you and Natsu going to have that kid?" asked Maria with a big smile.

"What, we aren't even dating yet." said Mira with a huge blush.

"Really, I could have sworn that I read that you two were somewhere, also I saw those photos you took with him. Are you really trying to tell me that there is nothing between you two?" asked Maria.

"There really isn't, besides he took photos with Jenny as well." pointed out Mira.

"He did, but you could tell that he was definitely more into his photos with you, you could just see it in his eyes. But I guess if there isn't anything there then that is your loss, he is definitely husband material. Just look at how much fun he is having with our girls, I can only imagine what he would do for his own daughter and wife." said Maria as she looked off into the distance thinking about what it would be like.

"Hey who else wants to play with us?" asked Natsu as he walked up to them with a girl on each shoulder.

"Yeah and we're going to be playing tag." cheered Emi.

"And uncle Natsu is it first." declared Asuka with a grin.

"You know that just means that I am going to be coming for you first Asuka." replied Natsu while giving her a grin.

"I would like to see you try uncle Natsu." responded Asuka.

"Oh I'll get you, so who else wants in?" asked Natsu again. The only ones that didn't join them were four older women of the group.

"Are you sure Mira, last chance?" asked Natsu giving her a suggestive grin, that the other women saw.

"No thanks Natsu, I am going to just stay her and talk." replied Mira as she tried not to blush.

"Your loss I guess, alright gang who's ready for one of the most intense games of tag to ever happen." said Natsu with a big grin and rather than responding they all bolted away from him.

"Hey we didn't even set up any rules." said Natsu.

"Since when have you cared about the rules Natsu?" asked Levy with a smirk.

"Good point, but you have to start sometime don't you." replied Natsu with a big grin and then took off after the rest that were who knows where now.

"And you say that there is nothing going on between you to, just like nothing was going on between me and my husband." scoffed Maria with a big grin. Thus started the women's gossip that kept coming back to the topic of Natsu and Mira no matter how hard Mira tried to steer it elsewhere. They continued to talk for the next two hours occasionally hearing the joyous screams from those playing tag or whatever game they were now playing. But after the two hours the group playing finally came back with Natsu carrying one of the girls in each arm and Happy perched on his head.

"Looks as if you tired them all out." stated Bisca with a smile while taking notice that Chelia, Wendy and Romeo all looked tired as well.

"HAHAHA yea I kind of got carried away." laughed Natsu as he tried to hand of the girls to their respective mothers, but found that they were still clinging on.

"Looks like they also don't want to be away from you just yet." said Maria giving Natsu a small smile.

"It would appear so Maria, so why don't we go eat somewhere your choice and don't worry about paying it's all on me." said Natsu with a big grin.

"We couldn't possibly do that Natsu, we should be the ones treating you." said Maria.

"Sorry but I refuse to take no for an answer on this one." stated Natsu still grinning.

"Mom can we take them to that one place I get to go on my birthday?" asked Emi while still clinging onto Natsu.

"I don't know honey, that place is pretty expensive which is why we only go to it on special occasions." replied Maria.

"Then it's settled, we are going to that place because today is a special occasion." declared Natsu with a big smile as he saw Emi's eyes light up.

"Really Natsu?" asked Emi.

"Yep, because every time I visit is a special occasion in my book." replied Natsu still smiling.

"Are you sure Natsu I wasn't lying when I said it was expensive." inputted Maria, not wanting to take advantage of him.

"Don't worry about it Maria, you can't stop him from spending jewels on you after he sets his mind on something." said Mira with a big smile.

"Besides Natsu is apparently loaded, and also is going to have jewels constantly coming in soon." said Levy with a big smile.

"If you guys say so, then follow me." replied Maria as she led the group.

"Asuka you are going to love the food here." stated Emi excitedly.

"What do they have?" asked Asuka.

"Absolutely anything that you could ever want." exclaimed Emi and then the two of them talked about all sorts of different foods that they have had before. And then started to say which ones they like and which ones they didn't care for, every once and a while Natsu would chime in with his opinion. Natsu was usually telling them that they were wrong about not like some sort of food just so he could argue with the two little girls.

Once they got there they were surprised at how fancy it actually was they were escorted to a big table that could accommodate all of them. Once they looked at the menu they were surprised to see that Emi wasn't lying about them actually being able to make anything for you. So of course everyone tried to order something that they thought the restaurant couldn't make, they were not able to accomplish that goal.

After that they had a little discussion on what they should do next, and do to two persistent little girls they decided to head back to Lamia Scales guild hall. Emi wanted to show Asuka everything that she knew about the guild from her previous visits with Chelia. She also told Asuka that one day she was going to join Lamia Scale and become a mage just like Natsu and Chelia. To which Asuka happily informed Emi that she was already a member of Fairy Tail and showed her guild mark on her right shoulder just like Natsu's.

"Well here we are everybody, are you sure it will be okay that we all are visiting Chelia?" asked Natsu as he got right next to the doors.

"Yes Natsu, I have told you over and over again they will be more than happy to see you all especially you Natsu. They would have been furious if I didn't bring you back with me after spending the day with you." explained Chelia.

"Okay just wanted to make sure and could you get the door for me, since these two plan on riding me the whole day." said Natsu as he moved Asuka and Emi in his arms.

"You got that right uncle Natsu, isn't that right Emi?" said Asuka cheerfully.

"That we are Asuka." replied Emi smiling brightly up at Natsu.

"Happy if you would." said Natsu and watched as Happy flew by and flicked Emi's hat so it covered her face. Instantly causing the young girl to giggle and try to fix it with one hand.

"Hey that's cheating Natsu." said Emi with a pout as they stepped into the guild.

"Then you two are cheating because with both of on me I can't use either of my arms." countered Natsu with a grin, now noticing that the guild hall was surprisingly quite. So he looked up at the guild and noticed that everyone was looking at him with their mouths wide open.

"Hey everyone, nice to see you again." said Natsu with a big smile, but there was still no response.

"Guys this is the real Natsu Dragneel." said Chelia as she rolled her eyes at her fellow guild members. After that the whole guild erupted into a party that could even rival Fairy Tails legendary parties. The whole time Natsu was the center of attention always being asked questions about what he has been up to or what his plans are for the future. Overall everyone was having fun, Emi and Asuka finally let go so that they could explore the guild together with the two exceeds following making sure that they didn't get into too much trouble.

"The Salamander has come for another visit I see." said a deep voice from someone just entering the guild hall.

"Jura Neekis, it is a pleasure to see you again, and I am sorry about our last fight." apologized Natsu.

"Sorry, why would you be sorry, I was the one that got cocky and let you get an easy shot in on me. Which just so happened to give the win to you, it just goes to show you that you should never let you guard down." replied Jura with a big smile on his face the whole time.

"I have learned that the hard way, I have the scars to prove it." said Natsu smiling back at the Wizard Saint.

"So what do we owe this visit to, and might I apologize for how we acted last time you were here?" said Jura with his smile absent when he apologized showing that he wasn't joking about it.

"No need to apologize for that you guys were just trying to help me out like true friends. And I was just too stubborn to let anyone help me at that time. As of why I am here, to visit Emi and Chelia of course while also spending some time with some of my friends still at Fairy Tail." replied Natsu with a big smile as he gestured to all of the Fairy Tail mages scattered across the guild.

"I would ask you to have another fight with me but we can save that for the next time we meet. Especially since it looks like you are the life of the party and I would hate to deprive my members of their star guest." said Jura with a big grin.

"I am going to hold you to that Jura, so when are you going to ask me to join?" asked Natsu with his own grin.

"Well I guess I might as well ask you now. Natsu Dragneel would you like to join Lamia Scale as an S-Class mage?" asked Jura having a feeling that he knew what the response was going to be.

"Thanks Jura and I really mean that, but unfortunately I am going to have to turn you down. I have some other things that I have to take care of." said Natsu with a small smile.

"I figured that would be your response but my Master would have killed me if I didn't ask you that." replied Jura with a grin.

"Yea I figured, but I can honestly tell you Jura that I won't be joining any guilds for at least a year." said Natsu wanting Jura to know that he wasn't going to be accepting a different offer right after that.

"Well our Master is going to be disappointed about you not joining, but she will be happy to learn that you won't be part of the Grand Magic Games." stated Jura with a smile.

"AHAHAH I bet she will won't she." replied Natsu while laughing.

For the next five hours everyone was having a good time. Natsu was getting asked to join by a few members every now and then, to which he would always politely turn them down. Natsu and the rest of his group finally all joined back up at a table at the request of Natsu since he had some things that he had to tell them.

"Sorry guys but I am going to have to end our little adventure here, but I promise to visit you guys again." said Natsu as he saw all of their faces sadden at the news.

"When though uncle Natsu?" asked Asuka.

"Sorry Asuka, but I don't know that maybe up to six months or more, but I do have something to give you guys as a parting gift." replied Natsu instantly getting the girls attention.

"What did you get us uncle Natsu?" asked Asuka excitedly, since her last present was guns.

"These key chains, they are just smaller versions of the lacrima's that I have been using to teleport around. Now I can't stress this enough but these are only supposed to be used in emergencies, break them while also sending a distress call and I will be there a few seconds later." explained Natsu as he passed them out and they looked like a small dragon clutching a small orange lacrima with its arms, legs and its tail.

"Are you sure you can't stay longer Natsu?" asked Mira with pleading eyes.

"I am positive Mira but I need to be some were far from here in four days, which will be tough doing while walking. Besides you can call me every night like you pretty much have been." said Natsu as he whispered the last part to her while he hugged her.

"I know but I am really going to miss you." replied Mira with a frown.

"Not as much as I am going to miss you Mira." said Natsu as he stared into her gorgeous blue eyes.

"I doubt that." said Mira as she turned away from him, but was gently turned back to look at him by his hand. The next thing that Mira knew Natsu kissed her right there in front of everyone; she was shocked at first but quickly reciprocated it and managed to slip her tongue into his mouth. Making it all the more pleasurable for the both of them, but soon they both stopped to get some air.

"I told you that I was going to miss you more, but unfortunately this is something that I have to do. So I will see you later Mira, oh and here is some jewels so you guys can spend the night here and catch a train back tomorrow." said Natsu as he handed the some jewels and then walked out of the guild without anyone saying a single word. All of them were too shocked to say anything, well except for two little girls.

"Wow Asuka you were right, they do both like each other." said Emi loudly causing Maria to have a big grin spread across her face.

"See I told you, now they just need to get married and then we can have a little sister to play with Emi." declared Asuka which caused everyone to snap out of their shock and start smiling at Mira who was blushing so much that her checks were the same color as Erza's hair, and the two girls who were now planning Natsu's and Mira's wedding with the help of their mothers who couldn't help but be proud of their daughters.

"So Mira, when's the big day?" asked Levy in a sickly sweet voice that sounded a lot like Mira's when she would do it to other people.

"There isn't a big day yet, I keep telling you that we aren't even a couple." said Mira angrily at her friend.

"So can I do that to you?" asked a brave member of Lamia Scale who was all of a sudden by himself.

"You could try, but then I would have to tell Natsu what you attempted to do to me." replied Mira in a sweet voice and nice smile but all looking at her knew that they were complete lies.

"No thank you." replied the member and took off afraid that Mira would tell Natsu what he asked her. He was there when Natsu took out Jura, and he also read of what happened at Blue Pegasus a while ago and would prefer to not go through something like that either.

"Mira just admit it, you and Natsu have some sort of thing even if both of you are denying it for some reason." stated Bisca as Maria was nodding right beside her.

"Okay we do I guess." said Mira as she sat down and put her head on the table.

"Then why haven't you guys started dating?" asked Levy.

"Exactly because of what just happened, he had to leave for who knows what. So rather than officially start something we both seemed to agree without talking about it that we would continue to do whatever this is." replied Mira without raising her head from the table.

"I can see why you both would choose to do that. Natsu might also not want to start anything with you while so much attention is on him. Especially if he is actually in as much danger as that article said he's in." said Maria trying to cheer up Mira, who she grew to really like during their time together.

"I didn't even think about that, of course Natsu's main concern would be my safety." said Mira bringing her head up and now having a small smile.

"Not just yours, but everyone else's as well." said Wendy with a frown.

"What do you mean by that Wendy?" asked Levy.

"Well I was just thinking, about why Natsu would leave when he was obviously having such a good time. And my only explanation is that he doesn't want his enemies knowing who he really still cares for at Fairy Tail. So he has to limit his time with us which is also probably why he didn't want to take the train here, because it allowed us more time with him while not being seen." explained Wendy.

"Wow Wendy that was really good deductive reasoning you did there." said Levy in shock.

"I was just trying to think like Natsu does, and that is what I came up with." replied Wendy with a small smile.

"Well we might as well join the party, unless you guys want to go back now." said Bisca who just had now figured out where Emi and Asuka ran off to.

"I wouldn't mind staying longer." said Romeo.

"Me either." replied Mira and Levy.

"Hey have you guys seen Chelia, I can't seem to see her anywhere?" asked Wendy.

"She disappeared after Natsu's and Mira's kiss." replied Maria who was giving Mira a smirk.

"I am going to go find her see you all later." said Wendy as she went to go and comfort her friend. Not knowing what to say to another girl that watched her crush kiss another woman in front of her. All Wendy knew was that she was going to be there for her friend and help her get over this and hopefully over Natus.

 **Four days later at a secret training camp in the mountains north of the Capital:**

"All right men, most of you don't know why you are here except for the fact that you stood out from the rest. Some of you are new recruits while others are well tested Rune Knights, but none of that matters now since you are all new recruits under the newly established Enforcement division of the Council." said Doranbolt as he paced back and forth between the two hundred and forty men.

"Unfortunately for you guys thirty six of you will be sent back to whatever previous position you held. Those that are sent back are to not speak about any of this, if they do then they will be arrested for leaking military secrets." stated Doranbolt loudly as he watched for any objections, which he got none knowing that these men were some of the best out there.

"This new division will be led by a new employee of the Council who is at the rank of a Wizard Saint so once he gets here I expect all of you to treat him as such. The Chairman told me to inform you that if he joined the ranks of the Wizard Saints he would be ranked number five." said Doranbolt making sure that it sank in, which he could tell since some of the men's mouths dropped at that information.

"So for the next six months we are going to be training to be the best of the best no questions asked. Our division will be broken down into for companies of fifty men who will have one captain in command over them. There will be a Major who is in charge of the captains which is me, while I will under our new Commander who will be here in a few days. Now the main purpose of our division will be taking down dark guilds while also keeping legal guilds in line, this is a dangerous job which is why we're only taking the best of the best." explained Doranbolt.

"You are completely correct on dangerous part there Major Doranbolt, which is why this is going to be one of the hardest things any of you have gone through. There is also one thing that I am going to change to how we break down this group. Each company will have ten squads of five soldier teams with one of them being the Lieutenant that is in charge of them. The reason that I am doing this is because when dealing with dark guilds it is very beneficial to be in small well balanced teams. It will allow for more maneuverability and even more complex strategies that the dark guilds will never see coming." said Natsu Dragneel who was sitting on a roof overlooking the training grounds while wearing his pure black outfit and was this time wearing everything.

"Oh Commander Dragneel we weren't expecting you so soon." said Doranbolt as he gave him a salute.

"I was testing out a new way to get to different locations faster and it worked better than I could have hoped for Major Doranbolt. And will what I just proposed be a problem?" asked Natsu.

"No Sir, Commander Dragneel." replied Doranbolt.

"Good, now listen here soldiers. Doranbolt here told me that you are the best that the Council has to offer me. Now I don't know if that is true, but we are going to find out shortly and if that isn't the case than we are soon going to be. I also know that some of you probably possess magic that will come in very handy even if you are not suited for combat, which is why I am going to have an additional ten positions open that will be known as the command base. I also want to make sure that you know that those ten spots might not even get filled, you have to earn them. So the first thing I want to know is how good your cardio is, now start running soldiers." commanded Natsu.

"Yes Sir, Commander Dragneel." shouted all of the soldiers as they saluted him and then fell into line and started to do laps.

"So Major Doranbolt, what do you think about having a command base unit?" asked Natsu as he landed next to him.

"It is actually a really good idea Commander Dragneel, just like having squads inside of the companies." stated Doranbolt.

"I am glad to hear that Major Doranbolt, I also want you to know that I will be relying on you to always give me your honest opinion no matter the situation." said Natsu as he looked at him directly in the eyes.

"Will do Commander Dragneel." replied Doranbolt.

"Good to hear Major Doranbolt, I was also thinking that a few of the squads would be specialized. Such as a few scouting squads, maybe a sniping squad and heavy detainment squad and other things like that since there is going to be forty of them." suggested Natsu.

"Once again you surprise me Commander Dragneel in my opinion that would be a smart thing to do for a few squads, at first I wasn't too sure about this. But the Chairman reassured me that you would be a great Commander and I now see that he was completely correct with his assessment." replied Doranbolt.

"I wouldn't blame you Major Doranbolt, I did have a reputation for not thinking before even though that is completely wrong." said Natsu as he inspected his new troops.

"I can clearly see that now Commander Dragneel." said Doranbolt.

"I see that you are letting women become Rune Knights now." stated Natsu as he looked at the few that were part of his troops.

"Yes Commander Natsu, the Chairman Isamu Yamamoto instantly got rid of the rule that only men could become Rune Knights. He said that was the dumbest thing he had ever seen, why should women not be allowed to serve their country as a Rune Knight if they want to. He also went on to say that some of the strongest mages he's ever met were women so it would be stupid to turn away people who could have great potential." explained Doranbolt.

"I have to say; so far I really like this new Chairman he seems to actually understand what is happening in Fiore. Unlike all of the previous Chairmen, if I hadn't talked with Isamu Yamamoto all night last week I probably wouldn't be here right now." stated Natsu with a small smile.

"And I wouldn't have blamed you Commander Natsu, especially since I was about to leave the Council's services. But before I did that Isamu Yamamoto informed me of his plans and asked me to stay, saying that he needed men like me helping him, otherwise he would have no chance of actually completing his goals." replied Doranbolt.

"He is pretty good with his words, so any way Major Doranbolt my thoughts on the command base units would be like I said to the troops not combat focused. For example I was thinking that we would definitely want a really strong mage with telepathy and probably four more that would always be with the captains so that they can communicate with their squads easily. I was also thinking that we would want some really skilled mages in the art of any healing magic since we are bound to have injuries. The other two types I was thinking of was someone very skilled in re-equip that can carry tons of stuff and I am talking about possibly re-equipping like full houses if that is even possible. And the other one would be mages skilled in runes so that we can set up really secure perimeters with barriers so that our base camp is safe and also making sure that our prisoners won't be able to do anything." explained Natsu.

"That sounds like another good idea Commander Dragneel, how were you able to come up with all of this?" asked Doranbolt.

"Well I have been dealing with dark guilds for as long as I have had the moniker Salamander. The whole time thinking how I would deal with them if I was the guild Master of Fairy Tail and had all of those mages at my command, and what I am doing now is the product of all that time thinking." replied Natsu.

"What did I tell you Doranbolt the perfect man for the job." said the Chairman as he walked up to them.

"It's good to see you again Chairman." replied Natsu.

"Good evening Chairman, and yes you were." said Doranbolt.

"So what can we do for you Chairman?" asked Natsu.

"Just keeping doing what you are right now, oh and here is your medallion Enforcer Dragneel." said Isamu with a smile as he handed over the medallion that now looked exactly like Natsu wanted, even with the gems for the eyes.

"You know that I was joking about the eyes, and is that another title that I will be going by?" asked Natsu.

"Yes I knew that you were joking about it, I just wanted to see what you would do when I actually did it and it wasn't as amusing as I was hoping. As for the new title, we are trying to see which one sounds the best, like how about Head Enforcer Salamander or swap Dragneel back in there." replied Isamu.

"I think that Enforcer Dragneel sounds the best so far, so who do I have to see about the uniforms?" asked Natsu.

"I will show you but there is still something that I must discuss with you two." replied Isamu.

"And what is that Chairman?" asked Doranbolt.

"Well the council and I have decided that it would be best if the Salamander didn't all of a sudden disappear for six months. Which is why we are asking that you go out at least twice a week and be seen by the citizens of Fiore and keep doing whatever it was that you were doing before this." said Isamu.

"I can see why that would be a concern, so consider it done since I have Major Doranbolt here to keep the training going while I am gone so I see no reason not to." said Natsu with a smile.

"Good to hear Enforcer Dragneel, now we can go and discuss the uniforms." said Isuma with his own smile.

"Sounds good, Major Doranbolt if it looks like they need a break from running have them work on increasing their strength however you see fit." said Natsu as he followed Isamu towards one of the buildings.

"Yes sir, Commander Dragneel." replied Doranbolt.

"Oh before I forget that building over there is your personal quarter during the next six months." said Isamu as he pointed at one of the buildings.

"I will keep that in mind Chairman." said Natsu as they entered a building.

"So here is our first run at it." said Isamu as he showed Natsu a stand containing the uniform for the Enforcement division. It was the same uniform as the Rune Knights with a different color scheme and emblem. The baggy pants were now black and the turquois tunic that went past their knees was now grey with red trimming and having the new emblem on it all of it in red as well except for the Council symbol which was black. The long sleeve shirt underneath that was a lighter shade of grey, and finally the cape and hat were silver with red trimming and on the back of the cape was the emblem that was on the front of the tunic.

"I think that your color scheme is okay, but I definitely want to have different capes and hats for when we go into battle." said Natsu while thinking of other things he wants to change.

"That can easily be done, and just so you know all of the clothing is magic resistant." Isamu informed Natsu.

"I assumed that considering that there isn't any other form of armor. So for the other things that I would like to change to this uniform, first the long sleeve shirt should be skin tight or sleeveless; I also want them to have black combat boots rather than those sandals that give zero protection. The pants need to be not so baggy but also not skin tight, it needs to be right between those two. As for the tunic I would like to shorten the length of it so that it doesn't go past the knees. Those are all of the changes to what you have here." said Natsu and only received nods of approval from Isamu.

"Now what I would like to add are leather vambraces with steel plating and leather shoulder pads with steel plating as well. I would also like leather with chainmail tunic, which would be worn underneath the other one to protect against the weapons that dark mages always seem to have. And last but not least I would like to get rid of that stupid hat and replace it with a steel helmet with good visibility, that if possible is equipped with short range communication lacrima that connect with only four other helmets." stated Natus.

"HAHAHA I have to agree with you on the hats and I see no reason why we can't add all of these things to your uniforms. But I do want to know why you want the helmets to only communicate within groups of five?" asked Isamu.

"Because that is how small our squads are going to be, and they will only need to communicate with each other and not everyone else because that would be too many people on one line. So this way they can communicate with each other freely knowing that it won't disturb anyone else. And being able to communicate like that will give us a big advantage, we also are planning to have some skilled mages in telepathy be with our command base and our for captains to that they can relay messages to Doranbolt or to the Lieutenants of their company." explained Natsu shocking Isamu with how much Natsu has actually thought about it, realizing that he must have been thinking about it the whole time he was walking here.

"Impressive and don't take this the wrong way Natsu but for the Council at least, you leaving Fairy Tail was very beneficial. Just from how you plan to run your division I can already tell that your division is going to do great things." said Isamu.

"None taken Isamu and as I have come to realize, my time at Fairy Tail was bound to end sooner or later." said Natsu with a smile.

"Good to hear Natsu, well I am going to go and get those changes made. You should have a set for all of your troops by the end of the week." said Isamu as he started to walk away.

"Thanks Isamu, from then on out all of their training will be done in them. So if it wouldn't be too much to ask could you also make a second set, since I have a feeling that after the six months with only the first one they are going to be in really bad shape by the end of it?" asked Natsu with a grin.

"Yes Natsu, but it will be coming out of your paycheck." stated Isamu.

"Fine by me as long as we get them." replied Natsu before Isamu was completely gone and Natsu could swear that he say Isamu grinning. Which made him think that Isamu might have just cheated him out of some of his pay check, which he didn't mind but it did remind him that Isamu said that it was a good thing to not trust him completely.

"So how are they doing Major Doranbolt?" asked Natsu as he came up beside him.

"They are all remarkably still doing fine, Commander Dragneel." stated Doranbolt.

"Well keep them going then Major Doranbolt, I am going to go to my quarters now if you need me." said Natsu as he went to the place pointed out to him.

When he first walked in it opened up into a big room with sofas along the walls and in the middle was a big table with chair around it and in the center of the table was a very detailed map of Fiore and some of the surrounding countries. This made Natsu think of this room as the war room where people plotted tactics for battle. Natsu then went into the next room which happened to be his office that had plenty of book shelves and a big desk in the center with two chairs for guests to sit in while one big one behind it for him.

Deciding that he would put some of his books in their later he went to the only other door in the war room, which lead into a small living room that was connected to a small dining room and kitchen. There were two doors in the living room one that lead to a small bathroom that only had a shower in it and no bath, and everything less that a normal bathroom has. The last room was his new bed room that had a double bed and a dresser and two nightstands. There also was a small closet that he knew filled up the space behind the bathroom, over all, this place was not too bad except for the fact that he couldn't see the sky. Which he couldn't handle to well when he was alone, but when he slept with Mira he didn't even notice, he decided that he would install skylights in most of the rooms before he started to sleep there.

"Well this is going to be some very busy six months for me." thought Natsu as he went back outside to start to observe his new troops and start accessing their strengths and weaknesses.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed it. So yea just so you all know I probably won't be updating this as fast as I was in the beginning since I have other things that I have to do. And also other stories to work on, so in the next chapter I am thinking that I will have him run into another guild while not training his new troops. Oh and about my other stories that I am writing I have three more ideas and I plan on leaving the descriptions for them at the bottom of this. So as always feel free to leave me a review and if you want to tell me which one of the three stories I should work on first I would be glad to hear your opinions.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	25. Tigers and Mermaids

Chapter 25: Tigers and Mermaids

"The Mayor said that they were supposed to be near some ruins." thought Natsu as he made his way through the jagged rocks that littered the landscape wearing his plan black suit. In each direction around Natsu there was nothing but miles of this barren and rocky landscape, and supposedly in the middle of it were the ruins of an ancient City.

Natsu had heard that a new dark guild was harassing the near town that was near this area and decided that this would be a really good way to make a noteworthy appearance that the reporters were sure to follow. It had already been a complete month since he started to train his new troops with the help of Doranbolt of course, and so far they couldn't have been happier with the results that they were getting.

They have only knocked off ten soldiers after a complete month and it looked like they rest were very determined to stay. Doranbolt and Natsu had already picked out ten soldiers that were perfect for the command base unit, but hadn't informed any of them since everyone was trying their hardest to improve and not get kicked out. That meant that there were twenty more soldiers that needed to be weeded out, unless Natsu could come up with a new plan for how to keep them. And right now he was toying with the idea of rather than having a few squads out of his main force to be devoted to scouting and intel gathering that these additional twenty soldiers could fill that position. When Natsu ran that idea past Doranbolt, all he said was that it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a division in there group devoted to that.

As for the overall training it was going great, all of the remaining soldiers were able to now do Natsu's crazy physical routines that he had for each day. They were all also learning how to deal with the standard weapons that a dark mage uses, with the weapon of their choice, which Doranbolt was against them picking their own weapons saying that it would cause chaos on the battlefield. As a compromise to this Natsu allowed Doranbolt to train them all with one weapon that he could choose, Doranbolt chose the sword since it was a very versatile weapon that was easy to have with you at all times. So along with learning their own weapon, all of the troops were having extensive training with the sword which was new to most of the troops that were Rune Knights who used that weird spear thingy.

Unfortunately they were not able to pick who were going to be the four captains or the numerous lieutenants yet since they were working on their individual train and haven't even started on the group exorcises that they had planned. Which would definitely show who was leader material and who wasn't which isn't a bad thing some people are meant to lead while others aren't and are actually able to carry out tasks that the leader couldn't do without them.

When he learned that he was going to have women in his division he was concerned that some of the men might start harassing them, but that proved to be completely wrong if anything they were all afraid to do anything that might be considered disrespectful to any of them. This caused a problem in some of the training where they would dual each other and the women would always win, which didn't make sense to Natsu so he asked all of his troops one day what was going on. One brave man explained that they didn't want to face his wrath like Hibiki did, so they all were taking extreme care to not do anything disrespectful. Natsu could only laugh at this and then explain that they were right to make sure that they didn't do any of that shit while serving under him but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't treat the women any different during training.

But back to Natsu and his plan on taking out this new dark guild so that he wouldn't have to make an appearance for at least a week which would allow him to get some good training in with his men. He wanted to make sure that he actually knew each and every soldier that was under him. And in order to do that he needed more time with his soldiers, which is why he was getting frustrated that he couldn't find these god dam ruins and it was starting to get dark so he let out a roar in frustration that was quite loud.

"What the hell was that?" said a voice that was about half a mile away and Natsu could only hear it since their seemed to be nothing else living in this barren wasteland.

"It sounded like a really pissed off beast." replied a different voice that was in the direction Natsu was now heading.

"But I thought that nothing lived out here?" questioned the first voice.

"Nothing does, which is why I am really concerned." replied the second voice.

"Do you think we should go out there and see what it is?" asked the first voice.

"Like hell man, I don't want to die to whatever that thing is let's just go back and tell the Master what we heard." said the second voice while he started to leave his position.

"But aren't we supposed to keep watch?" asked the first voice.

"Go ahead and get killed by whatever made that roar for all I care." stated the second voice as he continued to leave.

"Good point, wait for me." replied the first voice.

"Oh come on are they trying to get me to fall into a trap or are they really that cowardly?" thought Natsu as he trailed them wondering how he didn't catch their scents sooner but attributed that to the fact that the wind was blowing their scent away from where he was before.

"Hey Master did you hear that roar?" asked the second voice as he entered one of the buildings that was damaged the least.

"Yes I did now why the hell did you two idiots leave your post?" asked the Master who looked like he was ready to hit the man.

"Because it was close to us and we thought that we should warn you." explained the first voice to the Master.

"Well you thought wrong, what if that thing followed you here?" asked the Master and was about to continue but something distracted him.

 **"FIREFALL!"** shouted Natsu as he sent up a ball of fire into the air where it stayed as it started to rain down little balls of fire all over the ruins where they would just stay as they very slowly burned to away to nothing.

"What the fuck is that?" asked the Master.

"That would be me, it's one of the new spells that I made to give me a huge advantage when taking on dark guilds by myself." replied Natsu was he emerged from behind a broken building.

"Who the hell are you?" asked the Master as he and his men got into fighting stances.

"Wow I thought that all dark guilds knew me, well I guess I am not as feared as I thought I was. Well I am actually the one responsible for that roar earlier and happen to be Natsu Dragneel, you also might know me as the Salamander." replied Natsu with a grin that looked like he was soon going to be enjoying himself.

"Like hell you are him, why would a big shot like the Salamander come to this run down area of the country?" asked the Master.

"Well for you of course, and believe me when I say this, but I will always make time for dark guilds. But I do have a question what is the name of your guild by the way?" asked Natsu as more dark mages surrounded him.

"HAHAHA you say you are the Salamander yet you don't even know that name of the dark guild that you are trying to take down." replied the Master while laughing.

"Yea I don't really look into dark guilds at are chumps, I mean come on man, there is no way that you are even close to the level of the three heads of Balam Alliance." responded Natsu with a smirk knowing that his comment was going to piss them all of. For some reason it seemed that all dark mages thought that they were the strongest mages out there and that so was their guild.

"Why you little piece of shit, you are going to regret mocking Torched Existence!" shouted the Master as he and all of the other mages started to collect fire in their hands ready to burn this man until nothing was left of him.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA on my god this has to me my lucky day. I mean come on, not every day do you come across a dark guild that literally can't do a thing against you." replied Natsu while laughing so hard that he had to hold his sides.

"Kill him!" shouted the Master who as beyond furious at this man that was literally laughing in his face, saying that his guild couldn't do anything about him. Their attacks all converged on the man and made a huge pillar of fire shot into the air centered on Natsu.

"Looks like you were all talk Mr. Salamander." said the Master with a gleeful smile on his face.

"You guys really don't know anything about me do you?" asked Natsu from the middle of the flames which really freaked out all of the dark mages.

"I on the other hand do know something about your guild, which is a guild that only has fire mages in it. Now if you knew anything about the Salamander you would know that fire is his domain and no one can touch him with it." continued Natsu from inside of the flames, after which started to shrink and converge down to a single ball of flames that was then thrown into Natsu's mouth.

"Man that was actually filling, you guys aren't that bad of fire mages unlike that Bora guy." said Natsu with a big smile.

"What in the world are you?" asked the Master as he started to back away.

"I am the Salamander and I suggest you all surrender right now otherwise you are going to be in a world of hurt. As you can see your spells do nothing to me." replied Natsu still smirking.

"But that doesn't mean our swords can't." shouted out a member as he swung at Natsu's head for Natsu to disappear before it could hit him. The next thing that member knew he was hit by a flaming ball of fire and started to scream and roll on the ground to put it out, but was having no such luck.

"You have a point there Sir, but as you can see I won't let you even be near me if I don't want you to. Oh and you won't be able to put that fire out until I do this." said Natsu who as now on standing on the wall behind them, and snapped his fingers allowing his fire to be put out.

"Like I said before, fire is my domain and right now you are all surrounded by it thanks to that ball of fire up there. So surrender now or you might get burnt more than that guy." said Natsu as he pointed to the ball of fire still up in the air shooting balls of far down to the ground and then motioned to the man in extreme pain on the ground.

"Fuck this I am out of here." said a member as he took off down a random street which caused a few other members to follow his lead going in different directions. A few seconds later they were each launched back to where they started with burned and bruised face, some no longer conscious. This of course freaked out the guild, not having any idea what was going on.

"So that right there is an example of what happens when you try to escape." said Natsu as he walked out of the area where the last man was ejected from.

"How the hell did you get over there?" asked a member.

"That's a secret, but just to let you know I was the reason that all of them came flying back to you." replied Natsu with a smirk.

"That has to be a fucking lie." shouted out another scared member.

"It isn't he all of a sudden appeared in front of me and hit me with a flame covered fist." said the man that was the first to leave.

"Same thing happened to me." replied the last guy that was launched as he struggled to get up.

"So do you now see how pointless it is to resist my demands?" asked Natsu with that smirk still on his face.

"Come on guys, if we rush him all at once he won't be able to do anything." shouted a member who then got a few shouts of approval from other members that then advanced on Natsu together.

"They never seem to choose the easy route." replied Natsu as he shook his head in disapproval.

 **"LIGHTNING FIRE DRAGON GOD'S MODE!"** bellowed Natsu as he was now covered in black and orange flames as lightning danced around him. Just activating it alone brought the men charging him to their knees, now really regretting their decision.

"Now I have to make sure that you know to never defy me again." said Natsu as he then flashed all over the place hitting ever person that was trying to get him with a quick punch to the face effectively knocking them out and then disappeared.

"Where the hell did he go?" asked a member as they all heard a terrified scream and then one followed that was because of pain.

"Well that should be a good enough demonstration of what happens if you don't surrender now. Oh and your Master tried to use you guys as a distraction and escape, and if you want to take out your frustration out on him I have no problems with that as long as you don't kill him." said Natsu as he tossed the beaten up body of their Master at their feet. Which a few members took him up on his offer and started to kick their Master that was going to just leave them with this monster of a mage.

"The rest of you start putting these on." said Natsu as he tossed them magic suppressing cuffs that he got from the council and had tons of them in his pocket dimension.

"Oh and if any of you tries anything funny you will regret it." stated Natsu as he started to put cuffs on all of the men that he knocked out. After which he started to check the other members making sure that they were secure and when he was almost done one of them with speeds that shocked Natsu slipped a pair onto him.

"Ha now I got you, you can't do anything if you can't use your magic. Even a monster like you are now helpless." boasted the member with a smug smirk as he went to grab a sword to finish off the Salamander.

"I warned you that you weren't going to like the consequences that come with pulling a stunt like that." replied Natsu with a big smile.

"What consequences Salamander, you got too cocky with your superior magic skills and now you are going to die." said the mage as he brought up the sword ready to bring it down onto Natsu's head but he once again vanished.

"What the fuck, how did he do that when he can't use magic with those cuffs on?" asked the mage as he looked around franticly for the Salamander.

"That is true if the cuffs had stayed on me, why don't you take a look at your feet." said Natsu as he appeared only few feet away from the mage. The mage looked down to find a pile of molten steel laying there on the ground.

"What the hell are you, that shouldn't be possible." said the mage as he dropped his sword and staggered back.

"Oh but it is, and you have just witnessed it with your very own eyes my foolish friend. So now on to the punishment for trying to do that to me, stand up and fight because it's no fun if you just lay there taking your beating." stated Natsu with a sinister grin.

"No it's pointless." said the mage who was quivering in fear.

"You got a point, but that still won't stop me from beating the shit out of you." replied Natsu as he launched himself at the mage and started to punch him with just normal fists so that the mage wouldn't get knocked out after just one hit.

"Well it's good to see that no one else was foolish enough to try something." stated Natsu as he checked the rest of the dark mages to make sure that the cuffs were secure. And the only response that he got from the dark mages were them mumbling monster or freak of nature over and over again while all of them looked away from him not wanting him to be pissed at them.

"So are you two just going to keep watching me work or are you going to come out and say high." said Natsu loudly and got no response.

"You do know that it's impolite to whisper secrets in front of people." said Natsu as he appeared behind Kagura and Millianna. Which scared them immensely that was able to get behind them in less than a second.

"Sorry Natsu, we were just amazed at what we were seeing and didn't want to get in your way." replied Millianna with a smile.

"She's correct Natsu, not every day do you get to see the Salamander at work. Especially since you left Fairy Tail which is something that I would have never been able to guess." said Kagura with her usual serious face.

"Well did you like the show?" asked Natsu with a big grin.

"Yea we did Natsu and since when did you learn how to teleport, I didn't know that you had other types of magic?" asked Millianna as she now started to have pouting face on.

"I actually only have my fire magic and re-equip since it comes in real handy." replied Natsu with a big grin.

"Wait then how are you able to teleport around in no time at all, I would have been able to see you if you were actually running?" questioned Kagura with an eyebrow raised.

"That is my fire magic; you see I am a really unique fire mage that can do things that no other fire mage could hope to do. One of those things is being able to instantly go to any of my fire within a certain range, if it is really far away it takes a few seconds and makes a dragon appear before I do which is really cool in my opinion." explained Natsu still grinning at his two friends.

"Like what you did at Blue Pegasus?" asked Millianna excitedly.

"Yep, and that was actually the first time that I traveled that far with it." replied Natsu.

"Okay that is really impressive and I would like to know more about the things that you can do that no other fire mage can do. But what I want you to explain is how you got out of those cuffs, as that mage said it should have been impossible?" asked Kagura who had been trying to figure out how he did it.

"That is once again a thing that I am pretty sure I will only be able to do. Yes those cuffs prevent you from casting spells but that doesn't mean that it actually gets rid of your magic. So all I had to do was focus my magic into my wrists and then within a matter of seconds those cuffs were melted off do to the intense heat that I put there with my magic." explained Natsu with a smirk at how cleaver that was and for the fact that no one else could do it.

"That is so cool, how did you know that you could do that?" asked Millianna excitedly.

"A few years back I was concerned about the Council arresting me for bullshit reasons so I had to figure out a way to not let that happen, and this was the results of those tests from back then. Except I can do it in seconds now while back then it took minutes." explained Natsu.

"That is indeed very impressive Natsu, so what else can you do that other fire mages can't do?" asked Kagura.

"And why should I start telling you some of my secrets?" asked Natsu as he raised an eyebrow at the woman.

"I thought that since we were friends that would be enough for you to confide in us Natsu?" Kagura asked back and watched Natsu as he debated with himself if he should and it looked like he wasn't going to.

"Sure why not Kagura, I trust you and Millianna to keep this a secret." replied Natsu with a big grin.

"You see this flame here, it can actually heal wounds that are not to serious but once I practice with them I am sure that I will be able to heal some pretty serious injuries." said Natsu as he formed a small white flame that danced on the palm of his hand.

"Wow Natsu, what can't you do now? Isn't that amazing Kagura, wait what are you doing Kagura?" asked Millianna as she looked at her friend who had her swords blade on her exposed forearm and then cut it.

"I wanted to see if he was telling us the truth." explained Kagura still having that serious expression that she usually has.

"You do know that there were plenty of guys down there with small injuries that I could have healed. You really didn't need to hurt yourself Kagura, but then again you are like Erza in that regard willing to let yourself get hurt rather than someone else." said Natsu as he brought the Flame to her wound that instantly started to seal back up, once the flame touched it.

"That's rich coming from the person that is literally the poster boy for doing such things." replied Kagura with a smirk.

"You should really show more emotions Kagura, you look even more beautiful when you usually do. Alright there you go you're back to good as new Kagura." said Natsu as he finished healing her small wound and then turned to Millianna to ask her a question. While Kagura had a faint blush at Natsu's compliment and didn't know how to respond to a man saying such nice things to her with no ulterior motive.

"So what are you two doing here anyway Millianna?" asked Natsu while Millianna was also surprised that he said those things to Kagura and was still standing. Most of the time if a man said things of that nature to Kagura, then they would end up on the floor with a few bruises. But then again this was Natsu that they were dealing with and he had already proven to them before that he was a true friend to them.

"We were actually coming to these ruins to collect a relic for a job that we accepted." replied Millianna with a smile after she snapped out of her shock.

"Sounds like fun, would you two mind if I tagged along?" asked Natsu with his toothy smile.

"I'm fine with you coming along, what about you Kagura?" asked Millianna with a grin directed at her partner.

"He can come along, but I am the one in charge since this is our mission." stated Kagura as she went ahead of them to start the search.

"So what are we looking for?" asked Natsu as he walked next to Millianna without a care in the world.

"Well we first have to find the old temple that is supposed to contain the relic in its inner sanctum." explained Millianna who still couldn't believe that they just bumped into the man that they have been searching for, for the past three weeks. And here he is taking out a dark guild by himself at the ruins where their most recent mission took them; she thought that it must be some kind of sign.

"Alright give me a second and I will have the location of that temple." replied Natsu who then disappeared leaving a small fire where he once stood.

"Hey Millianna what in the world is he doing?" asked Kagura who had been making sure to keep an eye on Natsu since she didn't know the real reason why he left Fairy Tail. And that bugged her, but what made it worse was that Erza wouldn't tell her either and she would usually tell her everything.

"He said that he was going to find that temple for us." answered Millianna with a big smile.

"And how in the world is he going to do that, and then be able to find us?" asked Kagura with a frown now gracing her features.

"I think with that." stated Millianna as she pointed down at the little fire.

"Oh right, it still is really odd that he can do all of these incredible things now. And it seemed to start happening as soon as he left Fairy Tail." stated Kagura with a thoughtful expression.

"That is really weird isn't it." agreed Millianna and then let out a little shriek as it all of a sudden got really dark.

"Sorry about that and for your information it was a mere coincidence that I started to obtain these new abilities after I left Fairy Tail. I still would have gotten them if I had stayed with them, but I didn't so let's head to that temple shall we." said Natsu as he appeared where the flame used to be with a bright fire in his left hand.

"Why did it get so dark that quickly?" asked Millianna nervously.

"I already apologized for that, it was only ever that bright to begin with because of that spell I had in the air that was constantly raining down fire. So let's go to that temple." said Natsu with a big grin.

"First what are you going to do about all of those dark mages, they might make a break for it?" asked Kagura who wasn't just going to let some dark mages escape from captivity.

"Oh them, don't worry about it Kagura. I stopped by them and told them to wait for me and that if one of them escaped that I would punish the rest and then go and hunt down the escapee since I know all of their scents. Telling them that I can easily hunt them down usually does the trick but adding the part where I will punish the rest if one escapes should actually cause some of them to actively subdue their own members just so they don't get punished." explained Natsu as he lead the way to the temple.

"I guess that makes sense, but what if they all agree to take off together?" asked Kagura.

"They could do that Kagura, but look where we're at right now. There is nothing but barren wasteland in every direction from here which would take them a while to get out of, also they are all wearing those cuffs so they can't use magic to help themselves if they were attacked by an animals or anything else. They also aren't going to get any help from the surrounding villages that they have been raiding so it would be a really stupid move, but like you said it could happen." replied Natsu as he continued to lead them.

"Wow you thought about all of the possible scenarios there Natsu, why weren't you this smart when you were at Fairy Tail?" asked Millianna who was then elbowed in the side by Kagura who gave her a glare while doing it.

"I have always been this smart; I just chose to play the fool as you would say for some tactical advantages. But I was dumb enough to not realize that is what most people would see me as while I was still a member at Fairy Tail no matter how hard I tried to change their opinion." responded Natsu with a slight frown that neither of his companions could see.

"Really I find that hard to believe Natsu." stated Kagura.

"Well it's true, whenever I would say something that was half way intelligent they would just brush it off as another stupid idea of mine. If I didn't act like I always wanted to fight someone, they would keep asking me what's wrong even though I told them I was completely fine. After being my old persona for so long, that is what most of the guild could only ever see me as. Like I said it was my own fault for pretending to be an idiot in the first place if you think about it, it actually makes me one doesn't it." explained Natsu while letting out a sad chuckle at the end of it.

"Is that why you changed your look when you left Natsu?" asked Millianna.

"That it is Millianna; it was one of the easiest ways to start getting people to look at me differently. Also doing that article and the few other things that I have done recently have all helped change my image from the idiot to who I actually am." replied Natsu with a smirk.

"Like all of those photoshoots that you have been doing with Mira?" asked Millianna with a suggestive smirk.

"Hey it's only been one photo shoot, but yes, that was something that I would have never done before." said Natsu as he came to a stop.

"You're forgetting about the shoot that was for your Salamander Collection, which just so happened to have Mira in almost all of the pictures." argued Millianna with the same smirk.

"Oh man I forgot about that being launched around this time. Man I was just so dam busy that I completely forgot about something that I don't really have to do anything to keep it going." stated Natsu as he rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin.

"I think that all three lines look good Natsu, and I am honestly surprised that you did something like that." stated Kagura with a little grin.

"Why wouldn't I, I mean think about it. It is something that I have to put very little effort into and I am now going to make some money off of it even if it is a huge failure." stated Natsu with a grin.

"Well you don't have to be worried about that Natsu." replied Millianna with a big smile.

"And how may I ask are you so sure about this?" asked Natsu.

"Since you are wandering to who knows were and doing who knows what, it doesn't surprise me that you didn't hear about it. As soon as the stores opened up that were selling them, they were all instantly sold out with people preordering the next batch while also making preorders for your other two lines that haven't been released yet." explained Millianna happily.

"Really, why would people be that excited about my Salamander Collection?" asked Natsu.

"Natsu where have you been the last two months, you are a main topic of conversation right now. First you have that interview which I just think that they are almost done with, and then you go around and are doing things that are nothing like the old Salamander. Like going to Blue Pegasus and beating those playboys at their own game while being straight forward with all of them that you only want to be friends. And if that wasn't enough you stood up for Jenny's honor and destroyed Hibiki and made the whole world know that you wouldn't tolerate anyone doing that to any women if you have anything to say about it." explained Millianna excitedly.

"What Millianna said right there was enough to get most women to buy your clothing for numerous reasons, like being able to show their support for what you are doing and believe in. You also haven't been destroying anything while you have been wandering around. There is also a permanent spot in the Sorcerer's Weekly devoted to what you have been up to. Such as what random person did you help without asking for anything in return or what group of mages or bandits did you apprehend that used to be terrorizing a town. They also plan to start doing random interviews with some of your friends from all of the guilds." explained Kagura with a small grin.

"That still doesn't really explain why they want to buy my clothes." stated Natsu.

"Let me put it really simple for you then Natsu, you're really popular right now." said Millianna really slow so that he would be able to hear her.

"You know that doesn't really help and are we ever going to go into this temple?" asked Natsu.

"You didn't tell us that this was it." replied Kagura as she gave him a glare.

"I thought you would have understood since I stopped walking." stated Natsu with a smirk.

"Well let's go in there and find its inner sanctum." cheered Millianna as she took the lead. They searched the temple ruins for a half hour and couldn't find anything that would classify as an inner sanctum. Right towards the end Natsu started to tap different parts of the floor looking for something that only he knew of.

"Don't you miss Happy and everyone else at Fairy Tail?" asked Millianna out of the blue.

"Of course I miss Happy but I have been up to some dangerous things and didn't want him to get hurt or have to pick between me and the rest of his family. As for the rest, yea I miss most of them and have actually visited them twice already." replied Natsu while still tapping the floor in different areas.

"So you didn't leave on good terms with everyone?" asked Millianna.

"I did say in the article that it was pretty much impossible for someone to do what I did and be on good terms with everyone." stated Natsu.

"So who are the ones that you have some issues to work out, if you don't mind telling us?" asked Kagura.

"I am guessing that you are only asking me since Erza isn't telling you anything?" asked Natsu as he got two nods from the girls.

"Well I might as well tell you two now, because sooner or later it'll come out. The ones that I haven't seen or spoken to since I left are my old team excluding Wendy and Happy, and Master Makarov is another one that I haven't talked with." replied Natsu with a frown.

"What happened to cause that, you were always so close to them?" asked Millianna with a sad expression.

"It would take a really long time to tell you all of it, so let's just say that this has been years in the making. And the day that I left was the last straw and I just couldn't stand being with those people anymore." replied Natsu with an expression that looked both sad and angry.

"What did they do?" asked Kagura who was extremely interested in how this happened.

"A lot of little things over and over again that individually aren't really that bad but once you keep stacking them on one another it just gets too much for one person to handle." responded Natsu as he kept tapping the same spot trying to confirm if it was to his liking.

"That didn't really answer my question Natsu." stated Kagura with a face that said she wasn't pleased with his response.

"Fine and you might think that the reasons are childish but hey they are some of my reasons. First the guild always took me for granted it's not like I wanted them to throw me a party or anything it would have been nice to know that me almost dying for them over and over again was appreciated. As for my team let's just say that they really under estimate how good my hearing was and would constantly talk about how much better the team would be without me on it. And that really hurts when you hear people that you consider your family say things like that and insults on a regular basis. As for Grey on an individual reason he is lucky to be alive after what he did to me and the only reason he is, was at the time I considered him family. As for Master Makarov, he let everything else happen right under his nose while always saying thing about how were family but family doesn't treat each other that way. He also really took me for granted and assumed that I would never leave the guild. On the day that I left he denied me from becoming S-Class for a whole bunch of bullshit reasons and wouldn't acknowledge me and to add insult to injury he made the stripper S-Class before me. So like I said not the best reasons and there are some others but when they all happen over and over again you get tired of it and the best solution was to just leave." explained Natsu with his head down.

"I'm so sorry Natsu." said Millianna as she gave him a hug not really knowing what else to do. Also surprised to hear that people from Fairy Tail especially his old team would do such things and not even be aware that it would hurt him so much, it made her angry at them. But they were her friends also, so she knew that she wouldn't hold that anger very long since Natsu was on longer there being treated that way since he left.

"That is indeed unfortunate, but might I ask what Grey did to you that would make you of all people almost kill him?" asked Kagura who was also surprised that such things happened at a guild that was supposed to be a family. She was the most surprised that Erza was part of it and the next time that they talked they would have a few words about this whole thing.

"If you want to know that you are going to have to talk to Wendy, I can't deal with speaking about it. Because it might actually cause me to go and kill that bastard just from remembering what Grey put me through. Now back to the reason why you are actually here, do you want me to open a route to the inner sanctum?" asked Natsu with a slight grin.

"Wait you know how to get there?" asked Kagura who was shocked to learn this.

"Yea, what did you think I was doing for the past few minutes doing a new dance routine?" asked Natsu with a smirk now on his face.

"I did actually think that Natsu, and it was pretty bad in my opinion." replied Millianna which caused Natsu to start laughing.

"It really would have been a terrible dance, any ways want me to make a route?" asked Natsu with a devious grin that went unnoticed by the two women.

"That would be very helpful Natsu." replied Kagura.

"Alright one express trip to the basement coming right up." shouted Natsu as he took a flame covered fist and slammed it into the floor causing a giant whole to form underneath them. Causing both of the women to let out a scream as they fell while Natsu on the other hand was laughing like this was the most fun he's had in a long time.

"You could have given us a warning Natsu before you did something like that." said Kagura as she and Millianna both landed gracefully thanks to her magic.

"Now where would the fun have been in that, besides I seem to be the only one doing anything so far on this mission." replied Natsu with a smirk as he landed on the floor causing some cracks to form due to the force of his fall.

"Well you mister show off will have to wait here while Millianna and I finish it." stated Kagura angrily as she pulled Millianna along with her.

"Kagura are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Millanna as she looked back at Natsu who was just smiling at the two of them.

"Positive." growled Kagura.

"Don't worry if you need any help you know where to find me." shouted Natsu while chuckling.

 **Two hours later:**

"Finally I was about to come in after you two, what took you so long?" asked Natsu as he got up from where he was laying.

"Don't want to talk about it." mumbled Kagura as she passed him which allowed Natsu to notice that she had ash all over her with a few scorch marks on her clothes with Millianna being in a similar state.

"Looks like I probably would have been pretty helpful." said Natsu with a smug grin.

"We did just fine without you Natsu." said Kagura as the headed out of the temple.

"Would have taken us a second with him there though." mumbled a grumpy Millianna causing Natsu to once again laugh.

They then headed back to where the dark mages were supposed to be and were surprised to see that they were all just asleep waiting for Natsu to return to them. Natsu wasn't surprised actually since he was the one that made the threats to the mages and knew that none of them were going to try and escape.

"So what are you two planning to do now?" asked Natsu as he started to wake up his captives.

"Well we have to return this relic to our client and he is in the town south of her." stated Kagura.

"Do they have a jail?" asked Natsu as he woke up the last guy.

"I believe that they do, why?" asked Kagura.

"I need to take these guys somewhere." replied Natsu with a big grin.

"Alright you heard the man get moving." shouted Millianna as she started to get the dark mages heading south.

"But he didn't say anything." said one of the mages.

"Are you saying that she lied?" asked Natsu with an extremely pissed of face.

"No Sir Salamander Sir I'll be the first one in that jail." declared the mage as he sprinted off to the front of the group.

"HAHAHAHA did you see the look on his face?" asked Natsu as the mage was out of hearing, while he and Millianna were laughing up a storm.

"Quite fooling around you two, it is going to be two in the morning by the time we get into town." stated Kagura.

The rest of the trip was a pleasant one for them; they talked about a whole bunch of little things mainly just small talk. Once they got into town they went straight to the jail to make sure that none of the dark mages escaped which they didn't, probably since they knew that it would be pointless to try and run from a dragon slayer who is literally right behind you. After that they went to the inn to get some rooms to stay in for the night since it was too late to meet with Kagura and Millianna's client and decided to do that in the morning. Which they did, taking us to the present where they are wondering what they are going to do.

"Well it was fun catching up with you two." stated Natsu with a grin and happened to now be wearing his white pinstriped outfit without the coat and hat.

"Ah does that mean you are going to be leaving?" asked Millianna with a frown.

"It doesn't have to, I get to do whatever I want, which means I can go with you guys to your next destination if you want." replied Natsu with a smile.

"We were going to be going back to our guild, but you won't be able to come in since you are a male." stated Kagura.

"That just means I will travel with you until then, as long as there isn't any transportation." replied Natsu as he followed them.

"I'm fine with walking back." said Millianna who was excited to spend some more time with Natsu.

"We aren't in any sort of rush so why not." replied Kagura with a faint smile since she also found Natsu's company quite enjoyable.

"Well lead the way ladies." said Natsu with a big grin.

"Man this is going to be so much fun." cheered Millianna as she took the lead with a really happy smile.

"HAHAHA reminds me of the old me." said Natsu with a grin.

"Natsu that was you just over six months ago, you're making it sound like it was years ago." said Kagura with a smirk.

"Not a lot of years but it was at least two years ago when I was actually that happy and meant it. And wasn't just putting on an act." replied Natsu with a sad smile.

"Well I like this new Natsu better, since he is being honest with himself and everyone around him. You still are able to have fun with your friends but now without destroying things or pretending that you don't understand things that you actually do." said Kagura with a little grin.

"Thanks Kagura, you're a really good friend you know that. So why can't I even come into your guild hall, I know that you are an all women guild but does that mean you can't even have male visitors?" asked Natsu with his usual grin on his face.

"That's exactly what it means Natsu, because in the past men would always try and do something perverted whenever they would visit." replied Kagura with an angry expression.

"Well I guess that means you're guild is going to be one of the few that doesn't try and recruit me. Dam and I was really looking forward to being surrounded by girls every day for the rest of my life." said Natsu with a really big grin on his face.

"Stop joking around Natsu, I can tell that you wouldn't have even accepted an offer like that. And you are actually one of the few men who wouldn't be actually trying to do what you just said there, you would have treated all of them like friends." said Kagura as she hit him in what she thought was a playful manner when in fact it was far from it.

"Damn Kagura that kind of hurt and you're correct in the fact that I wouldn't have accepted. Despite what I said in that interview, since I knew that there was no way that your guild would have changed just for me to be excepted." replied Natsu as he rubbed his shoulder where Kagura hit him.

"Well we were actually trying to find you Natsu." said Millianna with a big smile.

"Really, what was the reason for that?" asked Natsu as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"To try and convince you to not join any other guild before the Grand Magic Games." answered Millianna quickly.

"Whose idea was that?" asked Natsu still with the same questioning look.

"It was Kagura's, because that will give us a better chance of winning the Grand Magic Games this year." explained Millianna with a big smile.

"Oh it was her idea." said Natsu as he turned to Kagura with a grin.

"Yes it was and even though we're friends I still have to think what's best for my guild, and you not being at the Grand Magic Games would definitely be to our advantage." replied Kagura as she looked away from Natsu not wanting to see the look of hurt in his eyes that she knew was going to be there.

"AHAHAHAH its okay Kagura." said Natsu as he was laughing to himself.

"Why are you laughing, shouldn't you be angry at us for wanting to do that?" asked Kagura in disbelief.

"Why would I be angry Kagura, I would probably have done the same if our roles were reversed. Besides you were actually not even trying to do that, if so you were doing a terrible job of it." answered Natsu with a big grin.

"So are you going to join a different guild?" interrupted Millianna.

"I can honestly tell you two that I won't be joining a guild for at least a while." replied Natsu.

"And why do you think that Natsu, what if they offer you something that is really hard to refuse?" asked Kagura who was really glad that he wasn't angry at her.

"Well it's pretty simple really Kagura, the things that I want are stuff that no one will really be able to offer me." explained Natsu.

"And what would those things be Natsu?" asked Milliianna as she got really close to his face.

"Things that I really don't feel like telling you about." replied Natsu who wasn't affected by how close she was to his face.

"Oh like Mirajane." said Millianna while snickering to herself.

"You are never going to let that go are you?" asked Natsu.

"Nope, because you and I both know that I am right. Even if you won't admit it yet." replied Millianna happily.

"What if they offered you to be one of their S-Class mages?" asked Kagura who wasn't comfortable talking about relationships.

"Well that was going to be a given, but no it still wouldn't cause me to join them." replied Natsu.

"What if they offered you jewels and women as well?" asked Kagura who wanted to know what it would take to get him to join.

"That was a dumb question Kagura, Natsu only has eyes for Mirajane." answered Millianna as she continued to enjoy teasing Natsu about this.

"I still wouldn't accept that offer Kagura, and not because of what Millianna said." replied Natsu with a small grin enjoying this conversation since it reminded him of the good old days.

"Keep lying to yourself like that Natsu, and soon someone else will snatch her up before you know it." replied Millianna with a grin.

"I highly doubt that." said Natsu.

"And why is that Natsu, she is a very beautiful women that any man would want?" asked Millianna with an eyebrow raised.

"Just trust me, that isn't going to happen." said Natsu as they continued on.

"Oh my god you two are having some sort of long distance secret relationship. It's okay Natsu we won't tell anyone about it, your secret is safe with us." replied Millianna cheerfully while Natsu could only shake his head. The whole time Kagura was just smiling at the two of them and thought that she might as well help Natsu out.

"What if they offered you the position of Master?" asked Kagura thinking that it would be a tempting offer.

"Nope, not even that would get me to join. Like I said before there isn't much that could get me to join a guild right now." stated Natsu.

"Well that is really quite the shame to hear. Especially since that was my main reason for finding you Natsu-kun which might I add is a lot harder than I thought it would be." said Minerva as she stepped out in front of the group.

"I was wondering when you were going to make your appearance Minerva." replied Natsu with a smile, while both Kagura and Millianna got into fighting stances.

"I knew that you would be able to tell that I was following you Natsu-kun since we have two dragon slayers in our guild. And it would appear that your friends are not as happy to see me as you are." stated Minerva with a smirk that made the other girls want to attack her.

"You can't say that you are honestly surprised Minerva especially after what you did at the last Grand Magic Games." replied Natsu with a small frown.

"I know and I am truly sorry about that, you know that was the old me Natsu-kun. The one that was only concerned about power and would do anything to get it, now thanks to you and Fairy Tail along with the rest of my guild, I have seen the errors of my ways." replied Minerva with her own little frown.

"I know Minerva which is way we're friends." said Natsu with a big smile on his face and his arms open for a hug.

"Thank you Natsu-kun you're the best." replied Minerva as she quickly hugged him and gave a glare to the other two women who were completely shocked at seeing this.

"You're just a big softy under that tough persona that you are always putting on." said Natsu with a big smile.

"Well you were the same way Natsu-kun, when you were pretending to be an idiot." said Minerva with a big smile.

"Yea I guess you're right, which probably explains how we became friends so fast." replied Natsu with a smirk.

"That and because you are the nicest person in the world Natsu-kun, and can never stand seeing someone else in pain." said Minerva as she started to run her hands on Natsu's chest.

"Thanks Minerva, and why do I always have to tell you that I am not interested in you that way." said Natsu as he lightly slapped her hand.

"Because I don't believe you Natsu-kun, I mean look at me. Also you should know that when I want something I won't stop just because someone tells me no." replied Minerva with a mischievous smirk and went back to running her hands on Natsu.

"Wow she's so up front about it." whispered Millianna to Kagura.

"Yea, but when did they become so close?" asked Kagura back in a whisper.

"We're both the same in that regard Minerva, but like I told you before I can't have that kind of relationship right now even if I wanted to. And you two as for when did we become this close it happened after the Tartaros fight, Fairy Tail and Sabretooth spent a lot of time with each other after that for a few months." said Natsu who caught the girls off guard that he was able to hear them.

"You've told me that Natsu-kun but you haven't told me why yet, and that is so annoying." said Minerva with a little pout.

"I told you that I can't it could possible put you in danger, it's one of the reasons I left Fairy Tail." said Natsu with a sigh.

"Well it must be pretty serious then if it was one of the reasons for Fairy Tail to lose their golden boy." replied Minerva in a teasing tone.

"It is." was Natsu's simple reply as his face turned to a very serious expression.

"Okay then I will leave that topic alone for now, but you need to tell me Natsu-kun, what happened for Fairy Tail's most loyal member to up and leave suddenly?" asked Minerva as she looked into his eyes with concern, which once again shocked the other girls who didn't believe Minerva was capable of such things.

"A lot of things that I really don't feel like talking about again since I told Kagura and Millianna just last night." replied Natsu with a frown.

"I understand, but I will get you to tell me Natsu-kun." said Minerva with a little pur as she said his name.

"Well where are you headed to Minerva?" asked Natsu with a smile.

"Where ever you're going to Natsu-kun because Master Sting gave me the mission of trying to get you to join us and if I couldn't do that then to bring you back with me." said Minerva as she held onto Natsu's arm as they then continued on their way towards Mermaid Heel.

"And Sting actually thought that you would be able to do that?" asked Natsu as he had a smile on his face.

"He has complete faith in his members, he learned that from you Natsu-kun." replied Minerva with a soft smile.

"Okay, well give me your sales pitch then." said Natsu with a grin.

"Okay since you still don't seem interested in having one of the most beautiful women in the world being yours, that was my first plan that I will keep trying. My second one was to offer you something that no other guild would think of offering you." explained Minerva causing the other two females to scoff at her high praise of herself and Natsu to raise an eyebrow in interest.

"And what would that be Minerva?" asked Natsu.

"Revenge on Fairy Tail. Now let me explain before any of you jump down my throat." replied Minerva while giving a glare at the two other women.

"This revenge wouldn't be anything at all that would hurt any of them or their precious guild. What I am talking about is beating them in the Grand Magic Games and taking the number one spot from them. And you would be the main person doing it which would make it that much better; the person that they threw out of their guild becomes the person that takes away their precious title of number one. See nothing bad, just knocking up the rivalry between Fairy Tail and Sabretooth another notch." explained Minerva with a grin.

"That does actually sound tempting." said Natsu causing all of his companions to let out gasps of disbelief.

"Really?" asked Minerva hopefully, as Millianna and Kagura asked it in complete disbelief.

"Yea it does, like you said Minerva it wouldn't be actually hurting them in any serious ways unless I got into a fight with one of them. And that would only turn ugly if it was Grey, but you did have something wrong there Minerva." replied Natsu.

"And what was that Natsu-kun?" asked Minerva.

"They didn't throw me out." stated Natsu.

"Okay then they drove you out, same thing in my opinion. Actually worse since it means they were probably not even aware that they were doing it." stated Minerva with a scowl.

"You are correct on them not realizing it." said Natsu with a frown.

"Well it's their loss, now it means that I can keep trying to get you to join us and Fairy Tail can't even get mad about it." replied Minerva with a grin as she tightened her grip on his arm.

"You are correct on that, especially on the trying to get me to join. Because I unfortunately have to decline Minerva I have a lot of things that require my attention." replied Natsu with a nervous smile.

"Like what Natsu, taking pictures with Jenny and Mira. Or is it that new clothing line that you launched while also taking more pictures with Mira and some with Wendy. I would have loved to have taken those kinds of pictures with you Natsu-kun." said Minerva with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"Sorry Minerva I didn't even know about the second ones because they only told me about those new outfits minutes before. As for the first one Mira begged me to go with her so I really didn't have a choice and Jenny just showed up and joined in." explained Natsu not wanting to piss off this women.

"Oh so if I were to beg you to do a photo shoot with me then you would?" asked Minerva with a mischievous grin that Natsu didn't see since he wasn't looking at her right now.

"Yea probably, I would do something like that for any of my friends since it is really easy and you get an okay amount of jewels for doing it." responded Natsu not knowing what he just caused.

"Alright then in one month we are going to have a photoshoot just the two of us." declared Minerva with a smug grin.

"Hey I didn't agree to that." protested Natsu.

"But you said that you would if I begged you for it, are you really going to make a woman do that Natsu? I thought you were better than that?" asked Minerva with a sly grin.

"Dammit I keep forgetting that I can never let my guard down with you around Minerva. Fine you win I will show up in a month to do a photoshoot with you, but that's it Minerva." replied Natsu with a sigh.

"Would you do one with us?" asked Millianna with really big eyes that looked like they would instantly start to cry if he said no. While Kagura and Minerva were thrown off by Millianna asking such a thing.

"Sure why not, would two months be fine for you two?" asked Natsu with a small smile at seeing how happy this made Millianna.

"Yes Natsu that will be just enough time to get the rest of the guild prepared." said Millianna with a big grin.

"Wait what are you talking about Millianna?" asked Kagura.

"I am saying that will be enough time for the rest of the guild to all return and get ready for the best photoshoot ever!" exclaimed Millianna excitedly.

"Natsu just agreed to do a photoshoot with the two of you, which I am not a fan of. So how in the world did you take that and turn it into a guild event?" asked Minerva with a glare that Millianna just ignored.

"I am also wondering that too." stated Natsu as he scratched the back of his head.

"When I asked us, I meant my whole guild Natsu. Since you can't visit us like you can all of the other guilds this is the next best thing. Not to mention that when this comes out it will be the fastest selling issue ever, since not only will it have the Salamander in it but it will have the whole Mermaid Heel guild in it, which has never been done before." explained Millianna with a big smile.

"There's a reason for that Millianna, some of the girls don't want to pose in skimpy outfits. Not all of us are as confident at you." said Kagura with a little glare since she didn't really want to do a photoshoot.

"Who said anything about skimpy outfits?" asked Millianna as she scratched her head.

"No one did, but you know that is what they are going to want." replied Kagura.

"So we just tell them to screw off or they don't get any pictures of us and Natsu." declared Millianna with and angry look directed at an imaginary photographer.

"I think I am already growing to like that one." replied Minerva with a grin.

"Hey don't encourage her." said Natsu knowing that if this was going to happen then it might take him a full two days or more to do that many photoshoots with that many women.

"Why not, I can already see that you are regretting that you agreed to it before she fully explained herself. Just think about it Natsu-kun, all day long taking pictures with all of those women. That would be most men's dream come true." said Minerva in a teasing voice.

"Man I really don't want to." said Natsu.

"Does that mean you aren't going to do it Natsu?" asked Millianna while she was almost in tears.

"Of course I will still do it Millianna, like I said I would do something easy like this for my friends." replied Natsu with a big smile.

"Yea Natsu, you're the best just like Minerva said." shouted Millianna as she hugged him.

"No problem Millianna, especially if it makes you this happy." replied Natsu with a smile.

"That reminds me, Minerva how do you plan on getting me to come back to your guild?" asked Natsu with a grin.

"Simple Natsu-kun, I am going to stick with you until you agree to come and at least hear Sting out." replied Minerva with a smirk.

"What if I chose to teleport to a different location?" asked Natsu with a smug smirk.

"I would just go with you, because we both know that you are not actually teleporting. So I would be able to keep up with you by actually teleporting with you." replied Minerva with a smirk.

"You are persistent, no wonder Sting has complete faith in you." said Natsu with a smile.

"So does that mean you'll come?" asked Minerva with a grin.

"On one condition, Millianna and Kagura can come along if they want to that is." stated Natsu.

"Of course they can, and this would be a great time to show them how sorry I am for my past actions." replied Minerva with a pleasant smile.

"So what do you two think, want to take a trip with me to Sabretooth?" asked Natsu with a big grin.

"Won't that take forever if we walk?" asked Millianna.

"It would, and that's why you guys would either teleport with Minerva here or ride the train there. Either way once you guys get there you would destroy this to allow me to join you." explained Natsu as he pulled out one of his transportation lacrimas.

"Well since we aren't near any town I would suggest teleporting." said Minerva.

"That would probably be the best way to go if we decided to." stated Kagura.

"Then let's teleport since I want to spend more time with Natsu, since he has now become the elusive Salamander." replied Millianna with a big grin.

"Then I am okay with that as well." said Kagura as she took the lacrima from Natsu's hands.

"Alright, are you sure you don't want to come on this ride with three women Natsu-kun? Just so you know I wouldn't mind sharing you if that meant that we could be together." asked Minerva with as sexy smirk that would have had almost any other man at her feet.

"Positive Minerva, the only transportation that I can handle is Happy. As for your other offer the answer is still the same." stated Nastu with his own smirk at the woman that was very persistent.

"I will get you one of these times Natsu-kun, well see you in a bit." replied Minerva who then disappeared with the other two girls.

 **At Sabretooth:**

"I have returned." said Minerva as she appeared with Kagura and Millianna in the middle of the Sabretooth guild hall.

"Hi Minerva." replied a few members.

"I thought you weren't coming back until you had Natsu?" asked Yukino who was looking for the dragon slayer.

"But instead you come back with Kagura and Millianna, what in the worlds going on here?" asked Rufus with a grin.

"Settle down everyone, of course I succeeded at my mission. As for why they are here, they happened to be with Natsu when I finally found him and Natsu and I both thought that this would be the perfect time for me to make it up to them after what I did to them at the Grand Magic Games." stated Minerva with a smug grin.

"Hi Sabretooth." replied Millianna happily as she was already hugging Frosch.

"Frosch thinks so too." replied Frosch with a big smile as Millianna continued to show Frosch tons of attention.

"Greetings Sabretooth, I hope that we aren't intruding." said Kagura.

"Of course you're not Kagura, if Minerva and Natsu want you here then we all want you here." said Yukino with a huge smile.

"Where's Natsu?" asked Rogue as he too looked around for the pink headed dragon slayer.

"He said that he will show up as soon as I destroy this." replied Kagura as she was about to smash it.

"Wait, Sting would be pissed if he missed this. Sting, Natsu is going to teleport here if you want to witness it." shouted Rogue with a smirk. There was a loud crash and they the sounds of someone sprinting as fast as they could and Sting burst forth from his office with a huge grin on his face.

"Alright, I really wanted to see Natsu use this after I read about it in Sorcerer's Weekly." said Sting while standing next to Minerva and Rogue.

"Thank you for waiting Kagura, you can proceed when you please." said Rogue with a small smile.

"No problem, well here we go." replied Kagura as she smashed it on the ground and just like every other time Natsu traveled long distances a dragon appeared and let out a huge roar.

"Hello Sabretooth." said Natsu with a smirk on his face as the fire died down. The next second Natsu was swarmed by the members of Sabretooth, them giving him hugs saying that they missed him and that he should visit more often. Asking about how he's been, why did he leave Fairy Tail, what's with his new look, since when could he model, how come he didn't tell anyone about his new clothing collection and many more. For the next three hours Natsu did his best to try and answer all of the questions excluding the real reason why he left Fairy Tail.

"Wow I had no idea that Sabretooth liked Natsu so much." stated Kagura who was sitting at a table that had the two Sabretooth dragon slayers, Minerva, Millianna and Yukino.

"What's not to like about Natsu." said Millianna who was playing with the two exceeds and looked like she was the happiest person in the world which she might actually be at this moment.

"Well the real reason is that because of Natsu we realized what a guild could actually be." stated Sting with a big grin.

"Before Natsu stepped into our lives at the last Grand Magic Games we were all concerned mainly about power." said Minerva with a frown since she was probably one of the most concerned about that.

"Then he attacked our whole guild all by himself since we allowed Jiemma to kick Yukino out of our guild while also being a complete ass about it." said Rogue with a growl because he hated the fact that back then he just sat back and watched.

"You should have seen it, it was pretty much what he did to Hibiki minus he didn't have those black flames. After which you know how he man handled the both of us in that fight." said Sting with a look as if it was a really fond memory which didn't make sense since he got his ass handed to him.

"You were there when everyone was starting to lose hope and couldn't do anything against those dragons, but Natsu gave that little speech that everyone could hear and instantly knew that all hope wasn't lost." said Yukino with a smile.

"After all of that we learned that there was more to a guild than being the best or the strongest. It should be a place where you feel like you belong and can get help when needed." said Sting with a big grin.

"Like a family." said Rogue who was also now grinning.

"Even if it took some of us longer to realize that, which Natsu and Fairy Tail still tried to teach me and somehow never gave up on me." said Minerva with a frown.

"Come on Minerva, family forgives and forgets just like Natsu keeps telling you." said Yukino.

"That does explain why most of your members are treating him like he's their hero." said Kagura with a smile.

"It's cause he is, something like this would have never happened without him. This place used to be all about business and who was the strongest, but now we are trying to be like Fairy Tail." said Sting with a big smile.

"I still am curious as to why Natsu left Fairy Tail." said Rogue as both Kagura and Millianna lowered their heads.

"You two know don't you." said Yukino in shock.

"Yes they do, but you will not try and get them to tell you something that should be told to us by Natsu." said Minerva in a commanding voice that made the rest not even attempt to ask another question.

"So why did it all of a sudden get so quiet over here?" asked Natsu as he came up to the table with a grin.

"We were wondering why you left Fairy Tail Natsu, and we're meaning the real reason. Not the ones that you gave during that interview, which were true but not your real reason for leaving." said Yukino with a determined expression on her face meaning she wasn't going to back down.

"I already told Minerva that I didn't feel like telling that again." said Natsu with a slight frown.

"Well we know that whatever happened caused your old team to come pretty much straight here asking if we had seen you recently. And at the time we didn't know about you actually leaving Fairy Tail, which explains why they were all sad." said Rogue.

"To put it as simple as I can, this was a few years of small things piling up and I finally realized that it was time for me to move on." replied Natsu.

"That's not good enough Natsu, how are we supposed to help you if we have no idea what's going on?" asked Sting.

"Did you ever think that might be the reason why I haven't told many people why I actually left? I don't need anyone's help on this or want any, why doesn't anybody understand that somethings must be dealt with by yourself." said Natsu in an irritated tone.

"I can't believe that I actually heard that from your mouth Natsu. You were the one that taught us that everything is easier when your friends are there to help you." Sting shouted at Natsu.

"Well I was wrong Sting; I have just recently found a few things that are in fact not easier with friends helping. For one of them is all that will come from it is more friendships being ruined if they get involved. And as for another one the only thing that will happen is me having to watch my friends die, which is something that I will not let happen even if that means I have to ruin that friendship to ensure that they won't die." Natsu shouted back at him. The whole time the two of them were shouting the rest of the guild just sat there quietly listening.

"It's seems that you being all by yourself has caused you to have your ego grow bigger than mine was. Is it because of all those photoshoots that you have been doing and all of the attention the magazines have been giving you that you think you are stronger than the rest of us. And know what's the best for us, well you're wrong Natsu. We have grown a lot stronger since we last battled and that was all thanks to you, when you beat us and showed us how a real guild should act. So now it seems that I am going to have to do that to you Natsu, so you can wake up and see that you were right back then and that what you are saying right now is complete bullshit." shouted Sting.

"You think that you are able beat me in a fight Sting?" asked Natsu with a pissed of expression.

"Dam right I do and now that I am thinking about it why don't we make this fight a little more interesting." said Sting with a big grin on his face.

"Sure, why not Sting, it won't change the fact that I am going to destroy you." said Natsu with a growl that caused a few members to take a step back.

"Good so here is my proposal if I beat you then you have to join Sabretooth, which will mean that I will be your Master. So you would then have to tell me what the hell is really going on here." replied Sting still grinning.

"What happens if I win?" asked Natsu.

"We will never ask you about what's going on ever again, along with not trying to get you to join us." answered Sting.

"I agree if you throw in your hair." replied Natsu shocking everyone by such a weird request.

"What the hell are you saying Natsu?" asked Sting.

"Simple, Sting if you lose I get to do whatever I want with your hair." replied Natsu with a devious grin.

"Fine it won't matter since you are going to lose." declared Sting.

"Alright, so where are we going to do this?" asked Natsu.

"In the arena out back of course." replied Sting as he led the way.

"Are you kidding me, is Fairy Tail really the only guild that doesn't have one?" asked Natsu.

"I would appear so." answered Kagura with a grin.

"You mean Mermaid Heel has one too, well fuck this I am buying them one." declared Natsu as he went outside and then got into the arena.

"You ready to get your ass beat Natsu?" asked Sting with a confident grin.

"I was actually going to ask you if it was wise to have your whole guild watch you get your ass handed to you on a silver platter?" asked Natsu as he put away his blazer and glasses then rolling up his sleeves and getting into his fighting stance.

"Standard rules?" asked Sting as he went into his own fighting stance.

"Of course, ready when you are Sting." replied Natsu and gave the signal for Sting to bring it.

And in the next second Sting was right next to Natsu catching him off guard and sending him into the walls of the arena from a punch to the face.

"I warned you Natsu, all of us here at Sabretooth have been working out ass's off." said Sting with a proud grin.

"I will admit that you got the drop on me and have improved more than I anticipated, which means I will not toy with you like I initially planned. But go all out as a sign of respect and also to let you know how much further you will have to go before you can leave a scratch on me." said Natsu as he put a white flame to the gash that was above his right eye curtesy of Stings last attack. And to everyone's, but Millianna and Kagura, surprise it healed instantly with Natsu now giving Sting a feral grin.

"What the hell did you just do?" asked Sting not believing what he just saw.

"Oh that just something I picked up recently, just like this **FIREFALL!"** shouted Natsu as he launched the ball of fire into the air where it stayed as it rained down balls of fire onto the arena blanketing the whole place so that they were about only two feet away from each other.

"Well that was a pretty lame attack Natsu." said Sting as he then flashed right next to Natsu and went for a body blow but hit nothing to his surprise.

"Who said that it was an attack Sting? There are more ways to battle then just with your fists." replied Natsu who was now at the other side of the arena.

"That's really rich coming from the person that only fights with his fists." said Sting who was then promptly hit in the side of the face by a fire ball.

"What the fuck, how in the hell did you do that?" asked Sting who was once again getting hit in the head, but this time in the back.

"Answer my god dam question Natsu!" shouted Sting as he kept getting hit by them while he was dodging a few other ones.

"Why should I give away my secrets to my opponent Sting that really doesn't make sense now does it?" asked Natsu with a devious smile that really pissed Sting off.

"Fuck this shit." said Sting as he entered Dragon Force.

"Finally Sting, you are actually taking this serious now." said Natsu as his smile turned into a sinister grin.

"Yes I am Natsu, this is something that you first generations will never be able to do." stated Sting as he charged him.

"That's because we don't need to Sting and besides, how do you even know that what you just said is true." said Natsu while he kept teleporting to get away from Stings vicious attacks all the while with a shit eating grin on his face.

"Pretty bold talk from someone who just been dodging." declared Sting as he stopped his assault.

"You really need to pay more attention to your surroundings Sting." said Natsu with a grin as pointed up. Sting looked up to see hundreds of those balls of fire floating above him.

"Shit." was the only thing Sting could say as he was then mercilessly hit with a constant barrage by the fire balls from all sides. This lasted for a few moments until Natsu finally let up on the attack so Sting could catch his breath.

"That hurt like hell Natsu, but something like that won't be able to bring me down." said Sting as he got into his stance that everyone knew meant he was going to do his roar.

"Let's see whose roar is stronger Sting and I'll give you a handicap by not going into any of my modes, which would make me easily win this. You know what I bet I can beat yours only going at half power." taunted Natsu with a big grin as he too got into position.

"Oh you are going to regret that Natsu, **LIGHT DRAGON'S ROAR!** " shouted Sting.

 **"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"** shouted Natsu at the same time as Sting's roar.

The two roars collided in the middle and to everyone's surprise Sting's roar was pushing Natsu's roar back, which appeared to be doing it quite easily. Everyone could see the smug look on Stings face as he watched his roar overpowering Natsu's, but what confused everyone was Natsu looking like he didn't care about that or was expecting this to happen. Then all of a sudden Natsu's roar started to push back without Natsu putting any more effort into, and it was quickly overpowering Stings despite him putting more into his roar. Just as it was about hit Sting he rolled out of the way and turned to Natsu with anger and confusion.

"What in the fucking hell was that Natsu?" asked Sting as he watched Natsu look like he was concentrating really hard on something while slowly moving his arms in a weird way.

"Better question, what the fuck are you doing now?" asked Sting.

"Master look out." shouted one of the members and Sting instinctively lunged as far as he could to his right side. When he looked back there was a huge stream of fire coming from the sky smashing into the spot where he once stood and continued for a few more seconds. Once done there was a huge crater now in the arena's floor, after seeing the destructive power Sting realized that was actually Natsu's roar that he somehow redirected to come back and almost annihilate him.

"You got lucky that one of your members gave you a waring Sting, otherwise that would have been the end of this battle. But that also was the best time for you to actually do any damage to me, so why don't you just surrender Sting before I hurt you." said Natsu with a slightly concerned look on his face.

"Like hell I am going to surrender Natsu, what would my guild think?" asked Sting.

"That their Master is smart enough to know when he is out matched, and this is just a fight between friends." replied Natsu who really didn't want to fight any more and was actually ashamed that he started this one in the first place.

"That's true, but after seeing you do things that shouldn't be possible I have to know what's going on. I don't even care about the first part of our bet anymore, all I want is to know what the hell is going on Natsu." stated Sting as he charged at Natsu who made no attempts to move out of the way.

As Stings fist made contact with Natsu's face something strange happened rather than feeling a hard surface he went right through. Is made Sting think that Natsu teleported again, but he lost that train of thought when his fist felt like he stuck it in fire. Which is exactly what Sting did, right were half of Natsu's head should have been there were now just flames in the shape of his face that should have been there. But before Sting could react he was clocked in the side of his face with a flame covered fist sending him into the side of the arena and almost breaking through.

"See Sting, you literally can't touch me if I don't want you to. Now just surrender so that we can be done with this stupid fight that I am now regretting." said Natsu after he let out a sigh.

"This isn't a stupid fight Natsu, this is a fight were I am trying to get you to understand that we just want to help you like you helped all of us. But you won't let us which is the reason that I have to keep fighting." said Sting as he dusted off his clothes.

"Fine if it's going to be that way, then let's finish this right now **LIGHTNING FIRE DRAGON GOD'S MODE!** " shouted Natsu as he went into his strongest mode and launched himself at Sting who barely got his guard up in time. And for the next two minutes Natsu just pummeled Sting never allowing him to do anything than just block his constant barrage of attacks. At this point Sting couldn't handle any more of Natsu's attacks since each time he blocked them he was electrocuted while also getting burned by the two fires leaving his arms and legs extremely numb. This caused Sting to not be able to do anything as Natsu landed a devastating blow to his chest launching him into the wall where he actually left an indentation.

"Sorry Sting, I just couldn't tell you about all of that stuff right now. I am trying to work through some of this shit without making things worse for everyone involved and I am doing a bad job at that. I promise that when we meet again I will answer all of your questions that I am able to. But now I need to go, oh Milliana and Kagura if they are still interested about what I told you last night feel free to tell them. It was fun catching up everyone, and sorry for beating Sting but I can't join a guild right now." said Natsu while he deactivated his mode and walked away from Sting. Everyone else where still too surprised to say anything or do anything.

"Hey could you give me a way out of here?" Natsu said to no one in particular.

"Later everyone and it was fun we should do it again sometime." said with a smile and then disappeared.

"What the hell was that?" asked Rogue.

"That was Natsu completely destroying our Master like he said he would." said Rufus.

"Since when could Salamander move his flames so freely?" asked Orga.

"I'm going to go help Sting." said Yukino as she jumped into the arena.

"Natsu-kun is definitely full of surprises, who would have thought that he could turn himself into fire like that." stated Minerva in awe, she knew that was how Natsu was able to teleport but this was on a completely different level.

"I still can't believe that he was able to redirect his roar, that thing had so much power." said Rogue.

"Speaking of his roar, how did it completely dominate Stings without Natsu putting any more magic into it?" asked Kagura.

"I don't know, but I am sure that we would like to know what Natsu told you two last night." answered Minerva.

"We'll tell you but don't you think that Sting would want to hear it?" stated Millianna.

"He will be able to listen after we get him all patched up, which should only take less than an hour." said Yukino with a smile.

"Okay then we will tell you then, but I have to warn you right now Natsu only told us really vague details and said them pretty fast so we might have a few things slightly wrong." warned Kagura.

"Fine, as long as we get to learn a little bit about what's going on." said Rogue as the all went into the guild.

 **Three Days Later at the Enforcers Training Camp:**

"What the hell happened?" asked Natsu as he got up.

"I think that I should be the one to ask that question Natsu. First you call me randomly saying that you need to teleport and when you do I find you passed out as soon as you arrive. Not just that but you slept for three full days." said Doranbolt.

"No wonder I feel so hungry. Well you will probably hear all about it in Sorcerer's Weekly soon since they are following my every movement. But the quick explanation is that I got into a fight with Sting and while doing it I started to show off and did some spells and things that I haven't fully mastered yet so I pretty much exhausted my magic and had just enough to teleport here." explained Natsu with a sheepish grin.

"It looks like our troops aren't the only ones that need some practice." replied Doranbolt with a grin.

"Hey if you guys weren't so concerned about people wondering what I am up to, I would be here training all of the time. But at least I have things scheduled for the next three months that will keep people preoccupied and allow me to get more training time in." said Natsu with a big grin.

"And what did you do exactly?" asked Doranbolt not knowing if he really wanted to know or not.

"Well what just happened in the last week should keep people busy for the rest of this month and at the end of that I have a photoshoot with Minerva. And I will do a few quick jobs afterwards and then a month later I have a photoshoot with all of Mermaid Heel which I am afraid is going to take several days." answered Natsu.

"AHAHAHAH man, you have become quite the male model Salamander. Why are you even doing this when you could live a great life surrounded by beautiful women all day long?" asked Doranbolt while laughing.

"You do realize that I am completely fine now Doranbolt?" asked Natsu with a sinister grin.

"Sorry Commander Dragneel, I will take my leave now." replied Doranbolt with a huge grin.

"Then leave dammit." said Natsu as he shot fire at Doranbolt who just teleported away still grinning.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I still hope that you are enjoying this story. So I wanted to point out that Natsu is incredibly op but that doesn't make him invincible, he could still be outnumbered and out smarted or even overpowered because there is always someone stronger or better out there in the world that's just life. Oh and I just thought that it might be a good idea to ask you guys if you have any Oc's that you might want me to throw into the story that would most likely become Natsu's captains or lieutenants in the Enforcers. Now I am just saying this since I know that some people would like to see their input affect the story and this is a really easy way for me to do that. Also I really suck at coming up with names for people. So if anyone does want to give me possible OC's then having a brief description about their looks personallity and magic would be helpful, but no hard feelings if no one does that. So as always feel free to leave me a review.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	26. Inevitable Meeting

Chapter 26: Inevitable Meeting

 **One month later:**

Natsu was pacing back and forth in front of six of his troops that were possible candidates for becoming Captains of the Enforcer Division. He had just gotten back from his photoshoot with Minerva which had a twist that Natsu really didn't see coming from someone like Minerva. And that was bringing the other girls of her guild along with her to make it a bigger shoot than what Natsu initially planned.

He did notice that none of the other girls would touch him the same way that Minerva would, which if Natsu was being honest with himself turned him on a bit. Because man did Minerva literally have no problems with touching him anywhere and seemed to really enjoy making him blush, and she was still up front that she wanted him and would keep coming after him. This was something that Natsu had actually gotten used to about Minerva, but where she was now putting her hands was going a little too far.

Minerva was just like Jenny and Mira when doing the photoshoot with him and was doing very provocative poses with him that Natsu knew was her way of trying to claim him as her own and let the rest of Fiore know it. The only problem with that was that two other girls had already done that before her and one of them seemed to keep doing that, which happened to be Mira. Who did in fact actually have Natsu claimed but only a few people knew about that, and Natsu was fine with keeping it that way.

Of course Mira was not happy learning about the two photoshoots that Natsu was going to be doing with beautiful women from other guilds. So after a pretty heated argument Natsu was able to get Mira to see that this would be better since it would make people believe that Natsu wasn't interested in a specific woman and was just enjoying being the new hot sensation. Making it so that Mira would most likely not be targeted by people who wanted to hurt Natsu which she still thought was Natsu just being over protective of her. This made Mira feel special since he was doing a lot to not get her involved with his shit and it seemed like it was his top priority.

The real reason that Mira finally listened to Natsu's pretty flimsy reason for her letting him do these two photoshoots was she got him to agree to do another one with her. But this time it was going to be one with all of the women of Fairy Tail, which Natsu realized after he agreed to it that it would most likely mean that Erza and Lucy were going to be there as well. Because he knew that a lot of people would be really disappointed if those two beauties were missing from a photoshoot titled Salamander and the Lovely Fairies. But that was two months from now so Natsu wasn't too concerned about it right now.

Natsu was definitely more concerned about getting his division into tip top shape in just four more months where they would make their big debut to all of Fiore. He wasn't concerned about his troop's individual skills because they were indeed some of the best that Fiore could offer that weren't part of any other guild. What concerned Natsu was their teamwork which in his opinion was terrible, but Doranbolt kept telling him that was actually the best that he's ever seen. But Natsu had been a part of Fairy Tail and was on one of their best teams and got so used to being able to not even having to say anything and one of his teammates would be doing it. That is what Natsu was striving for in his division, he wanted to have all of his squads get to that level of teamwork which was asking a lot of them, but Natsu believed that they would be able to achieve that with the aid of the communication lacrimas in their helmets.

All of Natsu's troops where fully geared up whenever they were doing any physical or magical training. The helmets that they got met the requirements that Natsu had asked for, they were strong and barely reduced any visibility. They looked like Greek helmets with the nose piece and the plates going along the sides of the jaw for protection leaving a big open area for the soldier to look through. While on the top of these helmets were black bristles that made them look like they had manes like horses, Natsu didn't really know how he felt about that but he did know that these helmets were a lot better than those stupid hats they tried to give them.

But right now he and Doranbolt ran into a dilemma, they had six good candidates for only four spots. And those four would become captains, while the other two would have to be Lieutenants or something else if could think of something. Because after another month no one dropped out so they were now going to have twenty soldiers dedicated to scouting and gathering information for the Enforcement division. Natsu could always make another Captain position for the scouts which wouldn't be that bad of an idea, but this would still leave the other soldier to not have anything better to be other than a Lieutenant.

"As you six already know, you each have shown great capabilities as leaders while also being towards the top in magical prowess. With those combined it has made each of you qualified for the position of Captain, which there are now five since the formation of our scouting division." said Natsu as he continued to walk in front of them.

"Within the next week Major Doranbolt and I will pick those five individuals. But I want to remind those that get chosen that there is a capable replacement waiting for you to slip up so that they can take your position. You are all dismissed soldiers and are free to enjoy your half day off." stated Natsu as he stopped in the middle of them.

"Yes Commander Dragneel." they all replied while giving him a solute and marching towards the training area.

"You do know that none of them are going to take the half day off and are only going to train harder after hearing that." said Doranbolt with a smile.

"I know that Major Doranbolt, why do you think I added that part at the end saying that they could still be replaced?" asked Natsu with a grin.

"Because you're a cruel commander, Commander Dragneel." replied Doranbolt with a smirk.

"I am fine if they think that Major Doranbolt, but I am going to make sure that they are all the best that they can be before any of them see any active duty under my watch." stated Natsu as he looked over their training facility and watched his troops giving it their all in their training. All of them wanted this really bad and had their own reasons for wanting to be a part of this new division, but they all shared the common drive and determination to stay here even if their reasons were different.

"You know that none of them see you that way Commander Dragneel, especially after you have spent so much time with each soldier." stated Doranbolt with a grin.

"Yes but I still haven't spent enough time yet, I only have their names and magic down with a few other random facts thrown in. I want to actually know each and every one of them, so that I will be able to use them correctly while also making sure that they are safe in the process." stated Natsu with a frown.

"Commander Dragneel you already know most of your troops better than any other Commander in all of the regimens of Rune Knights." stated Doranbolt with a proud smile at how serious Natsu was about all of this.

"Thanks Major Doranbolt, but just because they are being negligent doesn't me I am going to be as well. So could you give me a quick rundown of the possible candidates for the Captain positions again?" asked Natsu as he continued to watch his troops all train even though he gave them the time off.

"Yes Sir Commander Dragneel, the first candidate is Cole who happens to have no last name do to his past and is one of our youngest soldiers at the age of 17. He was one of the few that didn't need training with swords because he has his own that allows him to summon that weird set of armor he also is quite the skilled fire mage. You might have heard some of the other soldiers calling him by his new nickname Lion, because it was easier than what he wanted to be called other than Cole which was Garo the Flame Lion." explained Doranbolt with a chuckle at the kid trying to get a nickname that he liked.

"Cole being so young could become a problem for some of the troops since a lot of them are quite a bit older than him, but I honestly don't see that actually happening. I am of course a fan of fire mages since they make a great supporting unit for me and as for the whole nickname thing that is something that I will never understand." replied Natsu as he grinned at Doranbolt.

"So how did you get the moniker of Salamander?" asked Doranbolt.

"I honestly don't remember Major Doranbolt, all of a sudden I kind of just had it and it seemed to stick. I got lucky I guess since it was something that I was okay with, other people haven't been so lucky. Next candidate please Major Doranbolt." asked Natsu as he went back to studying his troops.

"The second candidate would be another one of our younger members Grace Arc, who is only nineteen years old and is by far the best with a sword out of the whole division. She uses re-equip magic to switch between other weapons that she is skilled at, and her other magic is mind reading which she uses very effectively when dueling with someone. It is how she earned the nickname Savage, because she usually savagely beats her opponent without them even landing a single hit on her during their sword training. I would also like to point out that she is the only girl that we selected as a possible candidate for the Captain position." explained Doranbolt.

"Thanks Major Doranbolt I couldn't tell that she was a woman." replied Natsu sarcastically.

"Just wanted to make sure Commander Dragneel, because somehow you are still single and not going out with any of those women who are throwing themselves at you. And don't even try to deny it Commander we have all seen those photoshoots that you have done and you just actually got back from another one." said Doranbolt with a big grin.

"Maybe I already have a woman Major Doranbolt and just don't feel the need to parade her about with me." refuted Natsu as he didn't look at Doranbolt.

"And she's completely fine with your new male modeling career?" asked Doranbolt in a teasing voice.

"Actually she isn't, but that is none of your concern Major Doranbolt and I am only doing it now because you guys don't want me disappearing from the spotlight which is a pain. So let's get back to discussing who the Captains should be, I think that Grace is a definite for multiple reasons. She is fiercely loyal and has a very tactical mind which is something that is needed for Captains, not to mention she is extremely skilled with a sword like you said." said Natsu as he looked at Doranbolt.

"Alright I will have her marked as our first Captain. Now the third candidate is our second generation water dragon slayer Asura Mizuko who is only twenty two years old. Who until just two years ago was just a water mage, he shows great potential in his magical capabilities and even greater promise in tactical situations. His only drawback in my opinion is that he is sarcastic all of the time which bothers me." replied Doranbolt with frown.

"AHAHAH I can already see that he's gotten to you Major Doranbolt, he only does that because he knows how much it annoys you. If he's not doing that to annoy you he otherwise takes everything pretty serious and like you said he shows great potential to become better than what he already is. I think that is another one that will be a great Captain." said Natsu with a big smile.

"Okay the fourth candidate is Luis Landor who is twenty six and uses shadow maker magic which I didn't even know existed. He is the type of leader that leads by example and will be on the front lines no matter what, rather than sitting back and taking his time. So in other words he is pretty similar to the old you Commander Dragneel he even has a rivalry with another maker mage in our division. He can be a little too cocky and thinks that he can do anything that anyone else can do." said Doranbolt as he looked at the profile of Luis Landor that was on his clipboard.

"It might be good to have at least one Captain like that because some of our soldiers in my opinion would work better with that type of Captain rather than another one. And I can see some of the similarities between us, who is this other maker that he has a rivalry with?" asked Natsu as he raised an eyebrow at Doranbolt.

"That would be our fifth candidate Toshi, who only goes by just Toshi and nothing else. He is twenty six years old as well and is a gifted fire make mage that can also do some transformation magic as well. As you already know he has a rivalry with Luis Landor because of them both using maker magic. And like all of the other candidates has what it takes to be a great leader." answered Doranbolt.

"I am thinking that we should have Luis Landor lead the Scouting groups since his magic would probably be the most useful for that group. While Toshi would be our third standard Captain, and you are correct on him being gifted with his maker magic. The things that he is able to do with fire are absolutely incredible considering that isn't a solid element to begin with." said Natsu with a grin.

"Will do Commander Dragneel and our last candidate is another mage that I didn't know even existed until I met him. It would be Cyrus Drakov who is an ice phoenix slayer and 25 years old, which as far as I know phoenix slayers are on the same level as all of the other types of slayers out their but would seem to be even rarer than the rest. He is just as qualified as the rest but doesn't talk unless he has to; he's a man of few words." Doranbolt informed Natsu of the last candidate.

"I would definitely like to learn more about his magic, which I can do another time. For now Cyrus will be the person to take the forth Captain's position, and for the next week we are going to test them with this setup to make sure that they can all handle it." explained Natsu.

"What about Cole?" asked Doranbolt.

"Cole, how about we make him the Lieutenant of a squad that is just composed of fire mages. We already have a few other special squads so why not make one for Cole." suggested Natsu with a big grin.

"Sounds good to me Commander Dragneel." replied Doranbolt.

"Alright with this now taken care of we can start running simulations and figuring out the squads and which company they are going to belong under and also who will be running that company. So in other words we are finally getting to the part where we actually are going to become a team and start working together, even though we have a long way to go." said Natsu with a big grin.

"I have told you Commander Dragneel, they already are surprisingly well coordinated for only having been together for two months." stated Doranbolt in defensive of their troops.

"You raise a good point Major Doranbolt, but after these next four months of training that they are going to be going through, which will make some of them wish that they were sent to hell. Our division will be the closest group of soldiers out there that will accomplish every mission we're given like a well-oiled machine." said Natsu with a grin that meant he wasn't joking that the training that he had planned was going to be like hell.

"I take back what I said about them not thinking of you as a cruel Commander." replied Doranbolt knowing that he was going to have to do whatever crazy form of training Natsu had in mind for them.

"I am going to take that as a compliment Major Doranbolt, and as I said before I don't care if they see me like that after this, if this training even saves just one of them. It will be worth it in my books now let's get down there and start training ourselves." said Natsu as he headed towards the training area where his troops were hard at work.

"You are by far the weirdest Commander the Council has ever had Natsu Dragneel." said Doranbolt quietly as he followed Natsu to the training area.

 **One month later:**

"Come on Salamander give us a big smile." said the photographer with a big grin on his face.

"I would if I could, but this is the third day of me being in absolutely every photo." said a clearly tired Natsu.

"What did you expect Natsu, the whole guild came for this?" asked Millianna with a big smile.

"Well I can honestly say that I didn't think that your whole guild would actually want to take pictures with me and that it would take longer than two full days of photo's." said Natsu with a frown.

"And you have been great for the whole time Salamander." said the photographer with a big smile.

"Stop calling me that Jeremy, you have almost done every one of my photoshoots so I think you could at least call me by my actual name." said Natsu who really wanted to be done with this.

"Sorry about that Natsu, I just get caught up in the moment and that is what the public loves to call you." replied Jeremy with a sly grin.

"Its fine Jeremy I could really just use a break for a bit." said Natsu as he let out a sigh.

"But you only have about four more hours until you're done." stated Jeremy with a smile.

"Gah don't remind me Jeremy, it's going to be like torture for me." said Natsu as he let out another sigh.

"Hey that's not what the person taking photos with you wants to hear." said Kagura as she gave Natsu a glare.

"Come on Kagura you know I wasn't talking about you at all." said Natsu who felt too tired to even argue with her.

"Yea I know that Natsu, I was just giving you a hard time." replied Kagura with a very faint smile.

"Would you be okay if I took an hour long break?" asked Natsu as he gave her his best puppy dog look which wasn't half bad.

"Fine but you owe me for this Natsu." replied Kagura as her smile got ever so slightly bigger.

"Oh come on Kagura, why would I owe you for just taking an hour break. Shouldn't you guys be the ones that owe me for making one man take that many pictures? It's just not something that most men can handle, and I am starting to believe that those people who believe that you lose a part of your soul when you get your picture taken might have been on to something. Because it feels like half of mine is gone." said Natsu as he fell onto a couch that was there for all of them to sit on, but right now Natsu was using all of it.

"Simple Natsu, you should never make a lady wait for you." responded Kagura with her stoic face.

"Fine I owe you one Kagura and you girls are seriously going to be the death of me." replied Natsu as he pretended to die right there.

"Quite being over dramatic Natsu, and I think that you actually like doing this." said Millianna playfully.

"What in the world would make you think that?" asked Natsu as he shot up into a sitting position to look at the women.

"Well you keep doing these photoshoots, and I hear you are even going to do one for Fairy Tail in a month." replied Millianna with a big smile and was clearly enjoying this.

"Dammit I forgot about that Millianna, why did you have to remind me about it, now that is going to be on my mind for the next few days." sighed Natsu as he fell back into the couch.

"If you hate doing this so much then way did you agree to them and then agree to another on with Fairy Tail?" asked Kagura.

"Well I couldn't turn Millianna down when she asked and as for the Fairy Tail one I kind of got tricked into that one." replied Natsu as he covered his eyes with his forearm.

"More like Mira asked and you were more than happy to do as she said." said Millianna with the biggest grin physically possible for her.

"Sure let's go with that, I am honestly too tired to argue with you Millianna." replied Natsu with a wave of his hand.

"Ah poo, it's no fun when you just agree with me Natsu." said Millianna as she started to pout.

"Hey why are you getting so much more time with me than any other member of Mermaid Heel?" asked Natsu as he realized that the rest got an hour if they were lucky and Kagura was getting four whole hours.

"I don't know." replied Kagura as she got a faint blush.

"Yea you do Kagura, it's because they wanted to have you be Natsu's fourth women." replied Millianna not even realizing that she was embarrassing Kagura.

"Fourth woman?" asked Natsu as he removed his arm from covering his eyes and looked at Kagura for an explanation but only caught a glimpse of her blushing as she turned away. So Natsu turned to Millianna for her to explain that comment.

"Natsu, how do you not even know about this? I mean it's about you for god's sake." Millianna cried out in exasperation.

"When you are not doing things like this or taking out dark mages are you literally in a dark cave?" asked Millianna as she tapped her foot waiting for Natsu's answer.

"That's a secret, but let's just pretend that I am actually hiding out in a cave for my free time." replied Natsu with a grin.

"Whatever Natsu, okay so you know how your photo's with Jenny and Mira became really big deal?" asked Millianna.

"They did." stated Natsu in surprise causing Millianna to do a face palm.

"Yes they were big especially that one with you and Mira making out while she was in her dragon soul or whatever. Well after that people started to wonder which women you were going to choose and become the new favorite power couple of Fiore, and I bet that you don't even know this but you now have fans that are actually routing for a specific couple." explained Millianna with a big smile.

"Why would they do that?" asked Natsu in slight confusion of why people would be concerned about his love life or the lack there of.

"Natsu you're a celebrity now that you aren't causing mass destruction where ever you go. This means that people are going to care about pretty much everything that you do now. Which of course includes who you are possibly dating especially when they are strong and beautiful women." explained Millianna with a smirk.

"Okay I get it now, so the ones that people think that I might be interested in are Mira, Jenny and Minerva. And you guys are wanting to throw Kagura into the mix as well?" asked Natsu after finally figuring it out.

"Yep, this is why you two are going to have four hours with just the two of you in all sorts of outfits. After this people will definitely start rooting for Kagura." replied Millianna.

"You know that you don't have to do this if you don't want to Natsu." mumbled Kagura quietly while she looked away from Natsu.

"I don't mind Kagura, as long as you're okay with people thinking things like that." replied Natsu while giving her a big grin.

"I don't mind at all Natsu, besides Mermaid Heel can't let all of the other guilds get ahead of us over something like this." said Kagura with a faint blush on her face as she smiled at Natsu.

"You really would do almost anything for your guild wouldn't you Kagura? They are lucky to have such a devoted member willing to jump on board the crazy ride that has become my life." stated Natsu with a warm smile.

"I am not doing this just for Mermaid Heel Natsu, I am also doing this because I thought that it might be fun especially if it's with you." said Kagura as her blush deepened ever so slightly.

"Well if that's the case then I am going to make this the best photoshoot ever Kagura. Just give me a few more minutes to rest so my body doesn't fight me." declared Natsu as he jumped up but then quickly laid back down.

"HEHEHEHE that won't be a problem since you already owe me one." giggled Kagura at Natsu being his usual self.

"Hey Natsu did you happen to talk to Sting after your last fight with him?" asked Millianna.

"Yea I did, he came with Minerva and the other girls last month ago. We sat down and talked everything out and everything is still good between us." replied Natsu with minimal details.

"How did you do that?" asked Millianna as she hoovered over his face as he was lying down on the couch.

"I just explained in a little more detail than what he learned from you two and apologized for saying some things that I didn't mean." explained Natsu with a sigh.

"And he left you alone after that, he seemed pretty determined to help you on whatever super-secret and extremely dangerous mission that you are trying to do by yourself?" asked Millianna as she got closer to Natsu's face.

"Man everyone is so nosy with what I am up to." stated Natsu as he rolled his eyes.

"It's because we care about you Natsu." said Kagura with a small smile.

"And we learned from you Natsu that sometimes you have to keep asking what's wrong with the person. Even if they deny that anything is wrong, to not give up until they tell you what's bothering them so that you can help." said Millianna as she poked Natsu's nose.

"I don't think I ever taught either of you guys that." said Natsu as he scratch the back of his head trying to remember.

"You didn't Natsu." replied Kagura with a big smile for her.

"Then why are you saying that I did?" asked Natsu.

"Because the people at Fairy Tail that you taught that to Natsu passed it onto other people." replied Kagura still smiling.

"So who was it that taught you two?" asked Natsu and then quickly realized who it was most likely right after he said that.

"It was Erza Natsu, and I can see that you guys still haven't worked things out yet." said Millianna with a frown.

"No we haven't Millianna and this is something that can't be easily fixed." replied Natsu with his own frown.

"Well you don't know that if you aren't even willing to talk with them Natsu." stated Millianna.

"I know that Millianna, and as soon as I know that I won't make things worse than they already are I will speak with them." responded Natsu as he looked away from her.

"When will that be Natsu?" asked Millianna.

"I have absolutely no idea when that's going to be Millianna, for all I know it could be years from now." said Natsu letting a little bit of his anger seep into his voice.

"But that's way too long Natsu, you're all my friends and I want you to all get along again." said Millianna with a sad expression.

"Sorry Millianna but you can't always get what you want, that just isn't how the world works." said Natsu in a cold tone that sounded odd coming from him.

"So how did you get Sting to drop his little mission of trying to help you?" asked Kagura who didn't want the conversation to go down that road anymore because she knew that the end wasn't going to be pretty.

"I agreed that I would let him help once I got to the very end." answered Natsu.

"The end of what Natsu?" asked Kagura.

"The end of my mission as you guys called it, so when I am almost done with it I am apparently going to have a few Sabretooth mages with me." explained Natsu with a small smile.

"They agreed to help even though you still didn't tell them what you're doing?" asked Kagura.

"Yep, because I promised that before I actually start the last phase I will tell them everything and let them back out." replied Natsu.

"Would you do the same thing for us Natsu?" asked Kagura with a caring look on her face.

"Sure, why not but I honestly have no idea when I will even get close to finishing this. It could literally take years for all I know." said Natsu with a small grin.

"Doesn't matter Natsu, as long as I now know that you aren't all of a sudden going to go off by yourself and die I will feel a lot better." said Kagura with a faint blush.

"Kagura and Natsu if you two are both ready why don't we wrap today up with the best pictures yet." stated Jeremy with a big grin.

"Alright let's do this." said Natsu as he jumped up.

"Isn't your catchphrase I'm all fired up?" asked Kagura with a grin as they walked to the stage together.

"Yea it was, but catchphrases are kind of stupid so I am just going to say whatever comes to my mind first." replied Natsu with a big grin. So for the next three hours and a half they took pictures together and Natsu was a little startled by some of the outfits that Kagura was willing to wear for this photoshoot since they showed off a whole lot of her skin when she usually outfit shows none. One of those outfits was her in her bikini which Natsu had to admit she looked really good in; they were both in their normal outfits taking a few pictures as if they were fighting alongside each other. When Natsu all of a sudden picked up a few scents that he really wished weren't in the building while he was doing this with Kagura.

"Shit why are they here now?" mumbled Natsu to himself.

"What's wrong Natsu?" asked Kagura since she heard him mumble shit.

"It would appear that my old team has finally caught up to me." said Natsu in a monotone voice.

"Natsu I swear that I didn't tell them about this and the rest of the guild knew not to do that as well too." said Kagura not wanting him to get made at her or her guild.

"I know you didn't Kagura, I have a pretty good idea who did." stated Natsu as they both continued with the photoshoot.

"Who did it Natsu?" asked Kagura because she wanted to know who was meddling in Natsu's personal life like this.

"Who all of a sudden was no longer with us and disappeared after talking with me about patching things up with them?" asked Natsu with a little grin.

"Millianna, but she wouldn't do something like this she knows that you still need time." stated Kagura in shock.

"Yea but that was apparently too slow for her." replied Natsu.

"I can't believe that she would do something like this. I am so sorry Natsu if you want we can call it quits so you can take off." said Kagura with a slight frown on her face for a few reasons.

"Nope we are going to finish this and then I will hear them out like everyone wants me too. No more running away from them like a child." replied Natsu as he gave Kagura a confident grin. Just then the doors to the studio opened up and Millianna and Team Natsu walked in and headed straight for the two taking photos.

"Sorry but even if you are friends of Natsu or Kagura you are going to need to wait for them to finish." stated Jeremy as he blocked their path.

"Fine, how much longer is it going to take?" asked Erza with a ticked off expression.

"Less than thirty minutes Titania calm down, as you probably know by now there's plenty of Natsu to go around." answered Jeremy with a big smirk as he watched Erza realize what he was insinuating at.

"That's not the reason we're here, we just need to talk with him." said Erza with the occasional stutter.

"Whatever darling just let me finish up with them then he's all yours." said Jeremy as he went back to taking pictures of Kagura and Natsu for the next half hour.

"He's all yours now." said Jeremy as he gave Erza a wink and left.

"Millianna how could you do this to Natsu?" asked Kagura as she quickly made her way to her best friend.

"Because he wasn't going to do it anytime soon Kagura, you heard him say that it might take years. But they weren't going to last that long Kagura and they're my friends too." said Millianna as she pointed at Team Natsu, who upon closer inspection didn't look like they used to. They all looked like they might not have gotten much sleep for the last few days and overall just didn't look good.

"Hello Team Natsu, I would say that you guys are looking good but we all know that would be a lie." said Natsu in a cold tone with no expression on his face.

"That's the first thing you say to us after we've been looking for you for the past six months?" asked a slightly ticked off Grey.

"Yep, and I still don't really know why you guys are looking for me. It's not like I was lost or captured or anything along those lines. I have just been doing my own thing since leaving Fairy Tail and obviously didn't want to speak with you all, even now I don't really want to and didn't think that someone else would betray my trust." said Natsu still in that cold tone and sent a glare at Millianna that actually made her shiver.

"Natsu we wanted to tell you that we're really sorry about everything that we did to you without even knowing it." said Erza with her head down.

"Also the things that we did know about doing Natsu, we're sorry about those as well." stated Lucy with a frown.

"Natsu, I'm extremely sorry about giving you over to that Daphne chick that drained your magic. And I am willing to do anything to make up to you Natsu for that mistake." said Grey with a frown like Lucy.

"Is that it?" asked Natsu.

"Well yea Natsu, we just wanted you to know how sorry we were." replied Lucy with a small smile.

"And then ask you to come back to Fairy Tail with us Natsu. It just hasn't been the same with you not being there Natsu." said Erza who was now looking at Natsu's still expressionless face.

"Okay, anything else you three wanted to say?" asked Natsu in that cold voice that he was apparently going to be using for this whole conversation.

"Well I think we were all hoping that you would say more than just eleven words to us after we apologized." stated Grey with a glare.

"There isn't really much for me to say except for that I won't be going back to Fairy Tail any time soon." replied Natsu.

"Why not Natsu, you've been gone for half a year already and everyone misses you?" asked Lucy who looked as if she might cry.

"And what do you mean that there isn't much for you to say Natsu? How about the standard I forgive you, when someone says that they're sorry." said Grey who was getting irritated by this Natsu who was showing no emotions.

"What I mean Grey is that I am not going to lie to you three and say all is forgiven when it's not, that's what kind of started this whole mess. As for your personal apology and what you could do to make up for the pain you caused me, sorry Grey but there is nothing that you can do to make up for that. It's already happened and you should count your blessings that you are still breathing and never bring that up again otherwise that might not be your condition afterwards." said Natsu as he stared at Grey with that face that showed no emotions.

"Now as to me not coming back to Fairy Tail Lucy, I am actually sorry to say this but that chapter of my life is unfortunately done which I have realized over this past half year. I will of course visit every now and then but I am never going to be a member again. You might not believe me but it will always hold a place in my heart that will never be forgotten or destroyed. It was the place that took me in when Igneel left me, and gave me a new family and friends to be with until now." said Natsu as he stared into Lucy's eyes.

"It can still be all of those things Natsu, all you have to do is come back with us and I promise to one day earn your forgiveness." said Lucy as she started to cry.

"Lucy please don't cry you know how much I hate that." said Natsu as he stood still and made no moves to comfort her.

"How do you expect me to not cry Natsu, when because of me my best friend can't even be in the same room as me? And now you're telling me that there is no chance of you ever coming back to us after I was the one to drive you away. And it also seems like you are never going to be able to forgive me Natsu, how am I supposed to be okay with all of that?" asked Lucy while still crying now on her knees.

"Because you're strong Lucy and wouldn't let something as small as this keep you down. And yes we are no longer best friends but that happens in life Lucy, usually it is more of a gradual drifting apart but I have never been one to do anything slowly. And yes I will be able to eventually forgive you Lucy I just need more time, but when that happens who knows we might become best friends again." said Natsu no longer talking in that cold voice but one that was caring.

"Really you mean that Natsu?" asked Lucy looking up at him.

"Yes I do Lucy." replied Natsu still using his caring voice.

"But what about coming back to Fairy Tail?" asked Lucy as she tried to stop herself from crying.

"Sorry Lucy but I meant it when I said that chapter of my life is done. But this might be for the best Lucy because sometimes you have to wait to see what happens because of earlier actions that might have looked like the worst thing possible. But months later they might lead to things that would have never happened before, for instance all of the lives that I have saved over the las six months might not have been saved by me if I didn't leave Fairy Tail." explained Natsu.

"But you were always helping people while you were a member of Fairy Tail and could still do that if you came back." argued Lucy.

"That is true Lucy but you are going to have to wait and see what I have been up to recently. Trust me Lucy, this thing that I am doing now is going to allow me to help more people than I ever could while just being a member of Fairy Tail." replied Natsu with a little grin.

"That can't be true Natsu, you saved all of Fiore while part of Fairy Tail." stated Lucy.

"Yes I did Lucy and could still do that exact same thing with what I am doing now. And if another thing like that happens again you better believe that I will be there fighting along with the rest of Fairy Tail." said Natsu as he bent down to be closer to Lucy and offered her a hand to get up. Lucy accepted the hand and with the help of Natsu got back up, but then she did something that no one was expecting and that was hug Natsu and not letting go of him even though he didn't hug her back.

"You promise to still visit even if you don't talk to me at all while you're visiting, because I don't think I will be able to take it if you still won't visit while I am at the guild Natsu?" asked Lucy while still hugging him.

"I guess I can promise you that, but I know that it will be very awkward for everyone else." stated Natsu with a little grin.

"I don't care Natsu, they'll get used to it. Besides there will be other people to help not make it awkward." said Lucy still not letting go of him.

"You mean like how this hug is becoming very awkward." stated Natsu.

"I don't know what you're talking about Natsu this is extremely natural for me." relied Lucy with a big smile.

"HAHAHA see what did I tell you, you big weirdo. Nothing can keep you down because that's what it means to be a Fairy Tail wizard." said Natsu with a chuckle as he pried Lucy off of him.

"Natsu." said Erza who had her head down so he couldn't see her face.

"Yes Erza?" asked Natsu as he slipped back into his cold voice.

"Are you sure that we can't go back to how things used to be?" asked Erza still with her head down.

"Yes Erza I am positive that we can't go back because the bonds that we used to have once are now broken and can't be put back together in an instant. They can be remade but that takes time and they are not the same bonds that we first had." explained Natsu.

"Then what about you coming back to Fairy Tail? I heard what you said to Lucy but there has to still be a way for you to return to us?" asked Erza still with her head down.

"Sorry Erza but there isn't, well at least not until I complete my mission." stated Natsu still with his cold voice.

"What is this mission Natsu we can help you with, so will the rest of Fairy Tail." stated Erza still not lifting her head.

"Sorry but that definitely won't be happening Erza, this is something that I will most likely have to do on my own. But don't worry I already have agreed to a few other people to fill them in on my plan right before I do it so that they can help me if they want to." said Natsu.

"Well if not the whole guild then what about us, can you tell us also whenever this thing is going to happen?" asked Erza with a pleading tone in her voice.

"Sorry but I can't do that either Erza, well not while we are still like this. But later on maybe I can agree to let you all in on when I let the other's in." replied Natsu.

"Natsu you have to let us know because you said that this was the only way that there was even a chance of you coming back to Fairy Tail." said Erza in a demanding voice.

"Erza you know that you can't order me around anymore and you are lucky that I didn't just teleport away as soon as I was done with that photoshoot, which I could still do now. So tell me why you are so determined to bring me back to Fairy Tail?" asked Natsu in his cold voice.

"Because Fairy Tail isn't Fair Tail when you aren't there Natsu." said Erza as she looked up and Natsu could see that she had been crying pretty much the whole time.

"Erza you know that's not true." replied Natsu.

"But it is Natsu; it no longer feels like home anymore and doesn't have the warmth that it used to. Not to mention that there are barely any brawls anymore and the laughter that once was always present now only makes appearances." said Erza while she cried.

"You complaining about the lack of brawls never saw this day coming in a million years." stated Natsu as he shook his head.

"Me either Natsu, but it's not just the brawls Natsu it's everything else that you brought when you were at Fairy Tail. You are the heart of Fairy Tail Natsu, and we need you to continue on." said Erza as she continued to cry openly.

"Erza please stop crying, I really can't stand seeing any of you women crying." said Natsu as he got closer knowing that she was going to do the same thing as Lucy but was fine with it if that meant that she might stop crying sooner. He was right because as soon as he was in arm Erza's reach he was brought into a hug.

"Erza you know that Fairy Tail is not just one person, it's all of the bonds that were formed between its members. Fairy Tail was around before I came and hopefully it will still be around after I am gone. And I am pretty sure that you believe that I am the heart of Fairy Tail or what makes it feel like home because I left, and am still around and you know that. But for instance let's pretend that I died rather than left I know that it would have been really tough on everyone right away but you all would have eventually picked yourselves back up and made me proud." said Natsu with a caring voice and small grin.

"Yea but you aren't dead Natsu and I don't want to pretend that you are." stated Erza as she cried into his chest.

"And I don't expect you to Erza, what I do expect is for you to pick yourself back up and be the strong woman that I have always admired for your strength and perseverance. You'll see that Fairy Tail is still your home and the warmth is still there, these things haven't left they have only just changed a bit. And like I told Lucy I will still visit every now and again, and I will make the same deal that I did with Lucy and promise to visit next time while you're all there even though it's going to be awkward as shit." said Natsu with a little grin.

"Okay Natsu but I am going to keep trying to get you to forgive us and bring you back." declared Erza as she whipped away her tears.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you Erza." said Natsu as he once again had to pry himself out of a hug.

"Do you want to hug me now Grey?" asked Natsu in his cold voice which shocked everyone how he was able to switch in between them so quickly.

"No." replied Grey afraid to say anymore because of the stare that Natsu was giving him.

"How's things with Juvia?" asked Natsu still with the same voice and stare.

"Really good." replied Grey as he gulped feeling as if he was being interrogated.

"Better stay that way Grey or I will definitely have a few choice words with you." said Natsu as he then grinned at Grey. This caused Grey to feel a shiver go up his spine.

"You don't have to worry about that Natsu." replied Grey nervously.

"All I needed to hear, well I guess I will see you when I see you." said Natsu as he turned away from his old team and walked over to the two Mermaid Heel mages that were too captivated by what was happening to even think about leaving.

"Kagura and Millianna it was fun but as you two know I have things to do people to meet, and dark guilds to take care of. Oh and Kagura enjoy being number four even though I would put you actually at number two." said Natsu as he gave her a wink and then disappeared in a flash of flames. Leaving behind a blushing Kagura and a happy Millianna who couldn't believe that he actually said that last comment to Kagura. And one very confused but fairly happy Team Natsu, well happier than they have been in a long time. Now knowing that there was still hope for them, well at least for the two girls that is, even though Grey was confident that he still had a chance as well.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope that you guys enjoyed it. I know that there wasn't much action in this chapter and actually over all this story hasn't had that much but don't worry it's building up to it. Now I know that some of you are probably laughing and think that man this is one slow build up, if you thought that you would be right. Things are going to heat up for this story around the time of the Grand Magic Games. Oh and I want to give a shout out to: Deathwatch 45, DisasterMaster0, Shinigami-sama777, DraigTrueEmperor9, Dayvon135 and PalaDude234 for helping with the OC's that were mentioned at the beginning of this chapter who will all be explained more when they pop up and actually be given a description when they are actually going to contribute to the story. Oh and if you any of you want to toss out ideas about possible events that could happen during this years Grand Magic Games I would be more than happy to hear them. So as always feel free to leave me a review.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	27. Return to Fairy Tail

Chapter 27: Return to Fairy Tail

 **Half a month later:**

"Commander Dragneel I really don't know if they can take much more of this, the irregular hours and all of the exercises being double is way too much for normal mages. Most of our troops have nowhere near the stamina that you or our Captains do." stated Doranbolt with a frown.

"You might have a point there Major Doranbolt, and I think that I have the perfect solution for it. This has been something that I have been working on for the past few nights, I decided that I wanted each squad to complete an S-Class job within a month's time." replied Natsu with a big grin.

"You can't be serious Commander Dragneel, a lot of them could get seriously hurt or even die!" shouted Doranbolt.

"Quite down Major Doranbolt, yes I know the risks involved in this part of their training. But the benefits of this are easily worth the risk, besides I have already picked out the jobs that each squad will be assigned. The job that each squad gets is picked out with all of their skills in mind so that the likely hood of success it extremely high. Also this is going to make the teamwork in the squads increase even more, while also giving them time to bond without being around everyone else in the division." explained Natsu with a grin.

"That makes this idea sound a lot better Commander Dragneel, but you are still forgetting that most of these mages are not S-Class." pointed out Doranbolt.

"Yes Major Doranbolt, there were only a few that were S-Class when we started this training. But that was more than three months ago Major Doranbolt, and even if some of them are still not S-Class their group is definitely able to complete an S-Class job. I would guess that the lowest level of mage we have in our division is A-Class, granted we have a few that are not battle oriented but like I have said before not everything is about fighting." replied Natsu still grinning at Doranbolt who has become a really close friend over the last three months.

"Fine Commander Dragneel but I want to see the missions for each squad and make sure that I agree with you on the squad that you picked for it. Also what are the Captains going to do while all of the squads are out on missions?" asked Doranbolt with a slight frown.

"They are each going to take their own S-Class job of course Major Doranbolt. Oh and while everyone is doing these jobs I want them to continue our old training program with the times obviously shortened for all of them." said Natsu as he watched his troops working on their swordsman ship.

"Okay Commander Dragneel, I will come up with a reasonable schedule for them to have while out on these jobs. But what are they going to wear while doing these jobs and once they complete the job what are they going to do with the reward?" asked Doranbolt hoping that Natsu had already thought of this.

"They are going to split the reward among themselves and as for what they are going to be wearing Major Doranbolt. That would be their uniforms with any piece that has our emblem on it removed of course, because once again I want them to be completely used to wearing that uniform while doing anything." answered Natsu not even looking back at Doranbolt.

"That sounds reasonable but what if the reward is only one item, which does happen on some S-Class jobs?" asked Doranbolt.

"As I said before Major Doranbolt, this is supposed to help on their teamwork and bonding. So if a squad does have that happen to them they are going to have to work it out for themselves. And if they can't do that than they are not fit to be in a squad with one another and we'll have to send them to different squads." explained Natsu once again not even looking at Doranbolt.

"You are a very unique Commander, but so far everything that you have been doing has been working so far. So how has your personal training been going Commander Dragneel?" asked Doranbolt with a smile as Natsu then let out a really long sigh.

"Unfortunately it has not been going like I wanted it to Major Doranbolt. I have learned a few moves and I am currently working on some more, but I haven't been able to increase my overall magic like I wanted. I just don't understand why my normal method is no longer working for me." said Natsu with a frown appearing on his face.

"I would have to guess that it's no longer working Commander Dragneel because you have reached the max amount of magic you can gain by doing whatever it is that you are doing." said Doranbolt with a little smile.

"You're probably right Major Doranbolt, which is why I am excited about the next four weeks since I will be able to focus on my own training more than I have been for the last few months." said Natsu with a grin.

"Are you sure that you aren't just happy to be doing that photoshoot with the women of Fairy Tail Commander Dragneel?" asked Doranbolt with a huge grin on his face.

"Positive Major Doranbolt, I unfortunately let Mira pull this one over on me." said Natsu with a smile.

"Right there is why I think you're actually going to enjoy it Commander Dragneel, whenever you talk about Mira you always have a smile." pointed out Doranbolt with a smirk.

"Shit, if you've been able to notice that then I really need to be more careful." stated Natsu with a frown.

"Hey, I only noticed because I am with you Commander Dragneel most of the time that you are actually here." replied Doranbolt.

"Oh yea Major Doranbolt, about me going out there and doing random things that will get me seen by the public. After this last photoshoot I am done with that, I need to focus on my training more. I am not where I need to be at this point, so I am going to have to do some really intense training in those last two months before the Grand Magic Games." stated Natsu with absolute certainty.

"I don't think the Council will be too happy about that." said Doranbolt.

"They won't be but it will make the announcement at the Grand Magic Games more exciting. And who knows I might do something that the public finds out about while I am off training." replied Natsu with a grin.

"Wait you aren't going to be training with us?" asked Doranbolt with a small frown knowing that some of the troops aren't going to like that at all.

"Not all of the time Major Doranbolt, but I do want you to have the troops start the intense training again as soon as they return from their jobs. And they are to continue this until I come back in a month and a half from now, which will be just one month away from the Grand Magic Games." said Natsu with a grin.

"Even if they finish extremely early?" asked Doranbolt.

"Especially if that happens because that means that the job was probably really easy for them. So if you could tell the Chairman that I will be gone for a while that would be great Major Doranbolt, because I am leaving right now." said Natsu as he threw a fire ball into the sky that shot off until it was out of view and then Natsu disappeared leaving behind a puff of flames where he once stood.

"I really hate it when he just takes off like that." Doranbolt mumbled to himself as he heads to their office to start approving these missions so that they will be able to start them tomorrow.

 **Eleven days later with Team Natsu:**

"Why are you two in such a hurry?" asked Grey as he was pretty much being dragged behind Erza and Lucy as they ran to their client residence.

"Wait do you seriously not know what's happening in two days?" asked Lucy as she and Erza stopped in their tracks.

"No I don't, Lucy would you mind telling me what's going on that would make you two try and rush this job?" asked Grey who was happy that Erza was no longer pulling him behind her.

"Natsu is visiting Fairy Tail the day before his photoshoot with us, and we don't want to miss that which is in two days from now." answered Erza with a small smile.

"I can't believe that Mira didn't tell you though." stated Lucy while she had her thinking expression on.

"I can Lucy; ever since she learned about what it felt like to have your magic drained she hasn't said much to me at all. That along with Natsu leaving made her extremely mad at me, and I can't even blame her." said Grey with a frown as they continued on but at a more reasonable pace.

"Don't worry Grey, Mira will definitely forgive you it is just going to take a little while." said Lucy with a small reassuring smile.

"Yea but she might take longer than Natsu even, I mean I have apologized to her numerous times but she just brushes them off and continues to work as if I didn't say anything." replied Grey with his frown growing even more.

"Grey I am pretty sure that Mira is just taking out all of her anger at this whole situation on you. After Mira gets used to all of this I am confident that she'll forgive you and it will go back to how it used to be." said Erza with a big smile because she truly believed that.

"Yea except for Natsu not being there, and I don't know if she will get used to this Erza." said Grey causing his two companions to frown.

"I mean it's already been more than half a year since Natsu left Fairy Tail and every time I think she might start to forgive me Mira gets really angry all of a sudden." said Grey as he scratched the back of his head in thought.

"Oh I think I know what is causing that." said Lucy as she now had a smug smile on her face.

"You do Lucy?" asked Erza in shock.

"Yep, Grey does Mira get angrier with you at the start of a new week?" asked Lucy with a big smile.

"Yea she does Lucy, but how did you know that?" asked Grey who couldn't believe that Lucy knew this because he had always been trying to make it up to Mira in private.

"Because that is when the new Sorcerer's Weekly comes out." replied Lucy still smiling with a smug smile now.

"And what does that have to do with anything?" asked Erza before Grey could ask the same question.

"Have you two not been reading the articles about which woman Natsu might be going after?" asked Lucy in disbelief.

"Why would I care about that at all?" asked Grey.

"Same goes for me Lucy." stated Erza.

"Whatever you two, well if you had you would know that the public has four different women picked for Natsu that he could possibly have a thing for. They are Mira, Jenny, Minerva and they just recently added Kagura into the possible love interests. And every week they will post reasons why Natsu might have a thing for each woman and why they would make a great couple if they did start dating. Not only that but they even have a poll each week showing which woman the readers want Natsu to end up with and Mira has been coming in second place for quite a few weeks in a row. This month Kagura was in first since she had that photoshoot with Natsu and the month before that Minerva was in first for the same reason." explained Lucy excitedly.

"Wait why in the world would this make Mira mad?" asked Grey with Erza nodding her head in agreement behind him.

"You two have to be joking right?" asked Lucy in total disbelief.

"We aren't Lucy, so please enlighten us on why this would make Mira mad." replied Erza as she stared at Lucy.

"I really don't think Natsu was really that dense at all now, when you two apparently missed this." said Lucy as she shook her head in disbelief.

"Lucy get on with it." said Grey in an angry tone.

"Mira and Natsu obviously have a thing going on between them and probably have been for who knows how long." said Lucy with a little smile.

"And what would make you think something as ridiculous as that?" asked Grey.

"It isn't ridiculous Grey, just think about it for a second. Who took it even harder than us when Natsu left and actually knew why he left?" asked Lucy.

"It was Mira and I have never seen her so angry." answered Erza with a frown since she remembered how angry Mira was.

"Right, and if you remember correctly she knew pretty much everything there is to know about Natsu. Not only that but Mira seems to know what Natsu has been up to this whole time that he's been gone, making me believe that they have been talking probably every night together. This is something that you would only do with someone that you really care about more than just a friend. Mira has also been able to get Natsu to even start doing photoshoots with her and come back to the guild." explained Lucy.

"Okay so what if they have something going on between them?" asked Grey.

"Well then Mira would of course get angry about articles saying why Natsu should be with other women. Also knowing that the public wants someone else to be with him can't be something that Mira would enjoy learning, so it looks like you are the one that she's taking it out on Grey." answered Lucy with a smirk.

"I think you are on to something here Lucy, but why are they keeping it a secret?" asked Erza.

"I actually tried to get Mira to admit that they had something going on but she wouldn't. But if I had to guess it would because Natsu doesn't want Mira to possibly get hurt because of him." replied Lucy with a slight frown.

"And why would that happen?" asked Grey.

"Man you really aren't even thinking about this at all are you Grey? If Natsu did start a relationship right now that woman could possibly be targeted by dark guilds that want to hurt him." answered Lucy with a frown.

"Why wouldn't they just go after Natsu?" asked Grey.

"Well for one thing Natsu is really strong and another thing, look how long it took us to track him down and we definitely know Natsu better than any dark guild. So it would be easier to go after someone that he cares for and isn't constantly on the move like Natsu is, so to get him they would go after his girlfriend. But that might not even be the reason they are keeping it secret, I would have to think that it has to do with this dangerous mission that Natsu's trying to do by himself." explained Lucy still frowning.

"Wow Lucy, you've really thought this through." stated Erza.

"I have because I was hoping that I could help the two of them out with this but I can't come up with a solution to their problem." replied Lucy with a frown.

"If I figure something out Lucy I will tell you right away." said Erza while giving Lucy a comforting smile.

"Thanks Erza." said Lucy as she smiled back.

"Well it looks like we're here." said Grey as they came to a stop in front of a mansion.

"Let's try and complete this as fast as possible." said Erza with a big smile as she knocked on the front door. A few seconds later a butler opened the door and eyed them up and then let out a sigh.

"I assume that you are mages here about the job request?" asked the butler.

"Yes, we are mages from Fairy Tail and you should have received notification that we accepted this job." answered Erza as politely as possible.

"We did, but before you arrived another mage accepted the job and is already meeting with Mr. Yamada as we speak. Please wait here while I go and see what Mr. Yamada wants to do about this." said the butler and then closed the door on them.

"Well that was definitely unexpected." said Lucy.

"It truly is Lucy, because all of my time as an S-Class wizard I have never had this happen to me." replied Erza causing the other two look at her funny.

"Really Erza, not even once?" asked Grey.

"Nope and that is because S-Class jobs are ones that you make sure that you are well suited for. And they are also updated instantly when someone accepts them so something like this doesn't happen." explained Erza with a small frown.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Lucy.

"That is completely up to the client Lucy." replied Erza as the door opened again.

"Mr. Yamada would like to speak with you. So if you would all follow me I will take you to him." said the butler as they came inside of the mansion and he closed the door behind them and then lead them down a hall way. The mansion was very well furnished and it would appear that Mr. Yamada was a fan of fine art from a century ago.

"Mr. Yamada, here are the mages from Fairy Tail that accepted the request." said the butler as he opened a door to a large room that had all of its walls covered in bookshelves that were completely full. In the center of the room was a large desk that had a robust man sitting behind it. He appeared to be balding and the little hair that he had left was white, which matched the white suit that he was wearing.

And in front of this desk were two big comfy brown leather chairs, which happened to have a person in one of them right now which they could only assume was the other mage that came to do the job. She had blonde hair that she had done up in a French braid that was going in front of her right shoulder, she looked at them and gave a pleasant smile letting them notice her silver eyes.

She stood up to greet them showing that she had a hourglass figure while also let them see the outfit that she was wearing which consisted of a silver t-shirt that ended right above her belly button. This showed off her well-toned midriff, and going down she was wearing black short shorts that tightly clung to her shapely figure with a white belt that appeared to only be used to carry her sword that hung on her left side. Continuing on down the lady wore black thigh high combat boots and over top of all of this she had a white sleeveless trench-coat that she left opened showing the black lining at the collar and bottom of her trench-coat. They noticed that she had a silver medallion that had a red design on it that was too hard to tell from this far away and her last piece of clothing was black fingerless combat gloves.

"Hello Erza Scarlet, Grey Fullbuster and Lucy Heartfilia it's a pleasure to finally meet you. You can call me Savage, well that is what a few of my friends call me." said the lady as she shook each of their hands with a big grin on her face.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too Savage, but you seem to have the advantage on us since we have no idea who you are." said Erza with a small smile.

"That makes sense since this is one of my first jobs." replied Savage with a smirk.

"Your first job is an S-Class quest, are you Crazy?" asked Lucy in disbelief.

"Far from it, my wait, what should I call him? I guess the best thing to call him would be teacher, well my teacher picked this job out specifically for me knowing that it would match my skills perfectly." replied Savage with a grin.

"What is your real name Savage and who is this teacher of yours if you wouldn't mind telling us?" asked Erza as she studied Savage taking in how she held herself and the way she moved.

"My real name is Grace but like I said before my friends have been calling me Savage so I decided to keep it as my moniker. As for whom my teacher is I can't tell you that, but he is actually how I know all of you guys. He's a really big fan of Fairy Tail and has been his entire life." answered Savage with a pleasant smile.

"Why won't you tell us about your teacher?" asked Grey as he looked at her with an untrusting look on his face.

"Because it's not my place to tell you about him Grey and you should respect someone's privacy." said Savage as she glared at him.

"Sorry Savage, Grey was just curious because you said that you learned about us from your teacher. And we just wanted to know if we have ever run into this teacher of yours or might even actually know him." explained Lucy with a small smile.

"Well you do actually know him, but once again I still can't tell you who he is. Also you shouldn't really be that surprised that other people know you guys, you're from Fairy Tail and are part of Team Natsu even though Natsu isn't there anymore. Which I actually wanted to know why you guys are still keeping that name even though he isn't a member of your guild?" asked Savage with a little grin.

"That's because we are going to bring him back to Fairy Tail eventually and he will once again be a part of this team. But I actually have a question for you Savage, that medallion you have there is very unique and also has the seal of the Council on it which is only supposed to be used by people working for the Council?" asked Erza as she stared Savage straight in the eyes.

"Oh really, I didn't know that Erza. I guess I better put it away then because I wouldn't want to anger them like you mages at Fairy Tail do constantly, and it was actually given to me by my teacher. I am going to have to have a conversation with him about giving me something that could have gotten me into trouble." answered Savage as she tucked the medallion under her shirt.

"This teacher of yours sounds like quite the character." said Lucy with a grin.

"You have no idea how correct you are Lucy, his teaching style isn't like anything else I have ever seen." replied Savage with a smile. But before any of the Fairy Tail mages could continue their conversation with Savage Mr. Yamada cleared his throat to get all of their attentions.

"I am glad to see that you're all getting along together because I was going to see if you all wouldn't mind doing the job together. Because, no offense Savage but dealing with this monster might be more than just one person can handle by themselves." said Mr. Yamada with a nervous expression.

"None taken Mr. Yamada, you just want to make sure that the monster is killed. And having more than just me going makes it all the more likely that it will be accomplished, and I don't mind working with these guys as long as they are okay with it that is." said Savage as she sat back down in the chair that she used to be sitting in.

"We're fine with that as well Mr. Yamada because like Savage said this will only make the job easier for us." said Erza as she took the other chair leaving Grey and Lucy to look for somewhere else to sit. Both of them just ended up leaning against a book shelf as they got ready to listen to Mr. Yamada.

"Glad to hear, as you all already know that this is a monster extermination job. And unfortunately my men that made it out of that mine didn't know what monster attacked them and could barely describe it. So we talked to the Council and they ruled it as an A-Class level job, which unfortunately led to the death of a few brave mages that tried to get rid of it for me. That is what made it become an S-Class job, once again I am sorry about the lack of information that I have for you about this job. The only mage that made it out alive told us that they didn't even see the monster before it attacked and when it did it used its claws to slice right through his fellow mages. But the most disturbing thing that he said was that it could fade into the shadows and then appear from somewhere else completely." explained Mr. Yamada who looked like he didn't even want to talk about the dam monster.

"That isn't really much to go on." stated Lucy with a frown and was starting to get a little afraid.

"I know and for that I am truly sorry, but you're the only people that can help me with this." said Mr. Yamada with a frown.

"Don't worry Mr. Yamada, we'll definitely take care of this monster for you." said Erza as she got up and headed to the door.

"Thank you so much, and since there are four of you doing this job I will increase the amount on the flyer by four times the original amount." said Mr. Yamada with a small smile.

"Just wait until we return Mr. Yamada and then we can talk about the reward." said Savage as she followed the Fairy Tail mages out of the room to have the butler lead them to the exit of the mansion where a carriage was waiting for them.

"This will take you to the mine where the monster is staying, and please be careful I really don't want to see anymore mages die to that bloody beast." said the butler with a very sad expression.

"Don't worry, we'll be the last mages sent there because we're going to be the ones that kill it." replied Savage with complete confidence as she climbed into the carriage that then started to head towards the mine.

"So it would appear that my teacher knows more about what's happening here than the people actually requesting the job. He believes that it is the lesser form of a shadow demon, which is sometimes called a shade." said Savage after a few moments of silence.

"And why does he think that?" asked Grey.

"Because of how the other mages died and where the monster is living." replied Savage as she looked out the window as they started to make their slow climb up the mountain to the mouth of the mine.

"Why do those two things point to a shade?" asked Lucy.

"It's not only those but also the last part about it going into shadows which according to my teacher only a few monsters can do. Shades are notorious for cutting up their victims with their razor sharp claws that can grow to be a foot long. Shades are also extremely weak to light and usually try and find a place that never sees the light of day like caves or mines. With those three things in mind my teacher assumed that this monster must be a shade since it fit the build perfectly." explained Savage as she continued to admire the scenery.

"Your teacher is pretty smart if he was able to piece all of that together." stated Erza while nodding her head in agreement with what she just said.

"That he is, but he hasn't always been seen that way." said Savage as her face turned to a scowl as she still looked out of the carriage.

"That's unfortunate but at least he told you all that stuff about shades before you got here." said Lucy with a smile.

"No he only told me that he thought it was a shade and that I would have to do my own research on shades to see if I agreed with him. And if I didn't then I would have to figure out what the monster was before I could come here, but that didn't happen because I agreed with him on it being a shade. After that I had to look up all that I could about them and learn all their strengths and weaknesses." said Savage with the same expression as before.

"Seems like he really wants you to learn on your own, while still making sure that you are safe." said Erza with a smile.

"That he does, but he's like that with all of his students." replied Savage with a smile forming on her lips while the scowl vanished.

"Wait he has more than just you as a student?" asked Grey.

"Yep and before you ask I am not going to tell you how many. Let's just say that it is way more than a normal teacher could handle, but he's not normal by any means." said Savage with a big smile on her face.

"He sounds like quite the teacher Savage, but since we didn't know that this monster was a shade like you. Could you please fill us in on the essentials so that we can be better prepared than we are right now?" asked Erza with a small smile.

"Sure Erza, I was actually going to tell you all of that once we got there but I guess I might as well tell you now. First off this is a lesser form than a shadow demon which are really hard to kill, so we better kill it now before it kills enough people to become an actual shadow demon." said Savage as she finally took her eyes off of the mountains and actually looked at the other mages.

"Like I said before shades are weak to light but it's really hard to kill them with just light. They are also weak to sliver and fire which is how I plan to kill it. The only real way to actually kill a shade is to stab it's heart with a silver blade or completely destroy it with fire, but the really tricky part about a shade is that they can place their heart where ever they want on their bodies." explained Savage as she looked at each of the mages.

"And how do we find out where it is?" asked Lucy.

"I have a trick that I am going to try but have no idea if it's going to work since I have never done it to a shade before. And if that doesn't work then I planned on attacking it and figuring out what place it is trying to protect more than any other place, because that is where it's heart will most likely be." explained Savage.

"That is quite the ingenious way of figuring out where its heart will be." said Erza with a smirk.

"Thanks Erza." replied Savage as she went back to looking out the window.

"How old are you by the way Savage?" asked Lucy as she noticed that she looked to be even younger than her.

"I'm only nineteen years old, but as I am sure you all know that age doesn't determine your skill." replied Savage with a small grin.

"Very true Savage, I became an S-Class wizard when I was only fifteen." said Erza proudly.

"Hey Savage you never really told us what the shade will look like." pointed out Grey.

"That's because I don't know what it will look like Grey. Shades are very unique creatures that are mainly composed of actual shadows and can choose what form they take, but the most common one is a human. There is actually a type of magic that pretty much makes shades, but it's nowhere near as powerful as a real one." said Savage.

"We have actually run into a mage that used that magic." said Lucy with a face of disgust as she remembers back to when Phantom Lord attacked Fairy Tail because they were trying to get her. After that they remained quiet for the rest of the trip which took another ten minutes.

"Looks like we're here." said Savage as the carriage slowed down until it came to a complete stop. They all got out of the carriage and asked the driver to stay there until they returned; he agreed but said that he was going to leave if they didn't come back within the next three hours.

"So how do you guys want to do this?" asked Savage as she stood in front of the mine.

"I was actually going to ask you how you wanted to do this since you seem to be more knowledgeable about shades." replied Erza.

"Well my plan was to actually just walk on in there and wait for it to try and attack me, but now that you guys are here I don't really know if that is the best strategy." said Savage as she scratched behind her left ear while thinking.

"Are shades afraid of groups?" asked Grey.

"From what I read they are not since they are pretty hard to kill." replied Savage.

"Then why don't we stick with your original strategy but you'll just have us with you." suggested Grey.

"That could work but we don't know who it's going to go after first so I can't guarantee that none of you will get hurt." stated Savage with a frown.

"Well unless someone can come up with a better plan, I think we should just go with that one because I really don't want to spend any more time on this job than I have to." said Erza and waited five minutes for someone to come up with a different plan which didn't happen.

"Well it looks like we are going to just walk on in and wait for the shade to show itself." said Erza as she took the lead and headed into the mine.

"Erza if you wouldn't mind could I take the lead?" asked Savage as she came up to Erza.

"By all means go right ahead Savage." replied Erza with a small smile.

"Thanks Erza and I should have asked this but do you prefer being called Titania?" asked Savage as she took the lead and didn't carry a torch.

"Erza is what everyone usually calls me, the only people that call me Titania are usually my enemies." answered Erza as she scanned the tunnel that they were going down.

"Then Erza it is then because I really don't want you seeing me as an enemy." said Savage as she let out a chuckle.

"How are you upfront without a torch Savage?" asked Lucy.

"You three each have your own and my eyes are pretty sharp." replied Savage.

"So why not tell us a little bit about yourself Savage since you seem to know a lot about us?" asked Erza wanting to know a little bit more about their temporary teammate.

"Like what?" asked Savage as she looked over her shoulder at Erza.

"I don't know maybe your childhood or what type of magic you use anything that you are willing to tell us." replied Erza with a smile.

"Well my main magic is re-equip but I can't do any sort of armor with mine. I can only do weapons which is what most people learn, unlike you Erza but that is just another thing that makes you Titania. As for my childhood you could definitely say that it wasn't normal." said Savage as they continued deeper into the mine.

"How so Savage?" asked Lucy, since she wanted to focus on anything but the shade that they were supposed to be looking for and killing.

"Well I don't think most kids start military training at the age of five." replied Savage as she stopped and started to scan the open room that they were in.

"Why on earth would your parents do that?" asked Grey.

"Because that is tradition in my family, we have always trained since a really young age so that once we come of age we can become guards for the royal family. My father and two older brothers are all part of the royal guard and I was going to be too until four months ago." explained Savage as she looked like she was now on high alert and so was Erza.

"What happened four months ago that made you not follow in your family's footsteps?" asked Lucy.

"I was made an offer that I just couldn't refuse, and because of that I got to meet my teacher. Now if you two would stop talking I think that the shade is watching us." answered Savage as she pulled out her sword which was actually a rapier that was made out of silver.

"Really, how can you tell?" asked Lucy quietly as she started to get scarred.

"Can't you feel that unsettling aura that is only increasing?" Savage asked her back in a whisper.

"I have always felt that as soon as we came into this damn mine." whispered Lucy and then screamed as she heard claws scratching against the wall behind her. She twisted around as fast as possible hoping that the shade wasn't there, which it wasn't but it did leave large claw marks in the wall.

"Well whatever form it's in has five claws on its hand." stated Savage as she pointed to the five fresh scratches on the wall.

"But why was it behind me?" asked Lucy as she started to shake.

"Because it's targeting the weakest one out of the group, no offense Lucy." answered Savage as she listened to their surroundings.

"None taken, but I wish that it wouldn't focus me." whispered Lucy as she kept looking all around her.

"Well now that it's found us is there any way to lure it out?" asked Erza.

"The only thing that I can think of is using Lucy as bait." stated Savage as she kept her guard up.

"I am not okay with that at all." shouted Lucy as she turned her back on the area she was watching so she could glare at her partners for this job.

"I wasn't going to let that happen, Lucy." said Erza not even looking at Lucy.

"Yea Lu… **ICE MAKE: SHIELD!"** shouted Grey as he made a wall of ice appear in between Lucy and a shadowy hunched over figure. Lucy turned to see the wall of ice shooting up and watched as the figures shadowy hand swiped at her and thanks to Grey's Ice Shield it slowed the shade down just enough for Lucy to stumble back from the attack that would have been fatal otherwise.

The ice wall quickly crumbled and the shade leapt at Lucy ready to finish her off with a quick slash but its claw was blocked by a sword that Erza held. So the Shade swung its other hand to get rid of Erza but it was parried by Savage who appeared right next to Erza just in time. The shade made a hissing noise after its last attack was parried by Savage that almost sounded like it was in pain as it backed away from the two women with swords.

They could all see that the shade was indeed composed of just shadows which made it all the more intimidating since it looked like it didn't have eyes or ears. And its appearance was that of a hunched back man who happened to have six inch long claws coming out of each finger.

"That thing is scary." said Lucy as she looked at the shade.

"Not to mention that my ice did nothing." stated Grey who was only in his pants and had his own sword made out of ice. But Grey had very little faith in it after watching the shade tear through his shield like it was nothing.

"I already told you that it's only weakness were light, fire and silver." stated Savage as she then charged the shade and slashed at its chest for it to only to disappear into the shadows causing Savage to let loose a few curses. Everyone else remained completely quiet and got ready for another attack and sure enough it once again appeared behind Lucy trying to take her out.

But this time it was Erza that prevented Lucy from being decapitated by pushing her away with her body while blocking the attack with her sword. That Erza had a hand at both ends to make sure that she would be able to withstand the force behind the attack but that's not what happened. Erza watched in horror as the claw cut through her sword almost as if it wasn't there and continue on to her body, but thanks to Erza's quick reflexes she stepped back just enough for the claws to only partially cut through her breastplate.

 **"ICE DEVIL MAKE: LANCE!"** shouted Grey as he formed five lances that he then shot at the shade who didn't even bother with dodging them since it knew that it wasn't going to get hurt by them. Well that is what the shade thought but hissed in pain as each lance hit it.

"Good thinking Grey!" shouted Lucy.

The shade let out a loud shriek and launched itself at Grey before he had time to cast another spell. But once again Savage appeared but this time when she parried the attack she then made a quick slash at the shade's chest causing it to hiss in pain. The shade started to swipe at Savage with both of its hands but surprisingly Savage easily parried or blocked each attack and occasionally got in an attack of her own.

" **RE-EQUIP: FLAME EMPRESS!** " shouted Erza who wasn't going to sit back and watch Savage deal with the shade on her own and charged in to help Savage with TALON in hand since it was the perfect weapon to use with this armor set.

"I was doing fine on my own you know!" shouted Savage as she struck the shade with a jab to its chest.

"Yes but why would I sit back and do nothing when I could help!" shouted Erza as she hit the shade with a slash of fire.

"Good point, so far its heart is not in its head or above the middle of the chest!" shouted Savage as the two continued to attack the shade not letting it do anything but block the incoming attacks.

"Grey I just thought of something!" shouted Lucy with a huge smile as she came up to Grey and told him her plan.

"That could actually work." said Grey with a grin as a shriek came from the shade that made them cover their ears.

"Shit it got away!" shouted Erza from further down the tunnel that they were in.

 **"OPEN GATE OF THE LION!"** shouted Lucy knowing that the shade might try and attack her. But to her shock and surprise it went for Grey this time and she wanted to warn him but was too slow.

 **"ICE DEVIL'S ZEROTH LONG SWORD!"** shouted Grey as he tried to deflect the blow but was only able to stop it from impaling him right in the gut. Instead the shades claws sunk into his left side causing blood to start oozing out of Grey as the shade finished its attack by continuing its movement and having its claws cut through Grey until it came out of his left side.

"AAAHHH!" screamed Grey in pain as he fell to the floor with the shade looming over him ready to land the finishing blow. But the shade was interrupted by a fist covered in light hitting its face and continued to land blow after blow with speed and power that the shade couldn't handle.

"Grey are you alright?" asked Lucy as she kneeled down next to him.

"I have definitely seen better days." replied Grey as he froze his wound shut.

"Who is that?" asked Savage as she watched Loke attack the shade in ferociousness that matched a lion going for the kill.

"That's Loke my spirit and he was not happy seeing Grey almost die." answered Lucy as she helped Grey to his feet.

"We can talk later Lucy, let's finish this." said Grey as he coughed up some blood.

"You two came up with a way to beat the shade?" asked Erza with a proud smile.

"Yep but you're going to want to cover your eyes, Loke now!" shouted Lucy.

 **"LION BRILLIANCE!"** shouted Loke as a bright light burst forth from him and lit up the whole tunnel and they could all hear the shade shriek in pain from being completely covered in light.

"Dam that was still bright with my eyes closed." said Savage as she blinked her eyes a few times to adjust and was shocked to see the shade incased completely in Grey's devil ice.

"Good thinking you two." said Erza as she patted them both on the back.

"It was all Lucy's idea, but we still need to still need to destroy its heart and I won't be able to keep it in there that long after that wound I received." stated Grey as he then coughed out some more blood.

"Couldn't you open up spots for Savage to stab in with her silver sword?" asked Lucy since that was her plan all along.

"Yea but I can probably only do that three times." stated Grey.

"I only need one because I figured out where its heart is located." said Savage with a big smirk.

"You do Savage, how did you figure it out?" asked Erza who still hadn't narrowed it down yet.

"I tried my first plan again and this time it worked, so whenever you're ready Grey open up a hole right here." said Savage as she had her rapier pointed at the middle of the shade's left thigh. Without a word Grey opened up a hole and Savage quickly plunged her rapier in stabbing the shade right where she wanted. They all watched as the shade started to shrink in on itself and then completely disappear.

"Is that it?" asked Lucy expecting it to be more dramatic.

"Well if it hadn't been encased in Grey's ice you would have heard a scream loud enough to make you go deaf, but otherwise that is the end of that shade." said Savage with a big grin.

"I think that we need to get Grey some medical attention as soon as possible." said Loke as he put Grey on his back.

"Don't worry I'll be fine." said Grey as he coughed up a little bit of blood.

"Shut up Grey, you don't have as good of healing abilities as Natsu does so don't pretend that you do. Oh and Lucy would it be okay if a few of your spirits and I stop by when Natsu visits Fairy Tail?" asked Loke with a big smile.

"Of course you guys can, you're all friends with him too so I would never stop you guys from seeing him." replied Lucy with a big smile.

"Everyone else will be glad to hear that, so let's go and get Grey patched up." said Loke as he picked up the pace.

"Wow, Natsu is actually friends with her spirits." said Savage in shock.

"Yep, Natsu really had the gift to become friends with anyone that he wanted even if they didn't want to be his friend. But the key is that he has to want to be your friend." said Erza with a smile that then turned into a frown when saying the last comment.

"What does that mean?" asked Savage as she looked at Erza.

"Oh that was nothing, just forget that I said anything Savage." said Erza as she put on a fake smile.

"If that's what you want Erza." replied Savage knowing that it wasn't her business.

"Thanks for saving Gray and me back there, I really don't know if we would have been able to complete this job if you weren't here." said Erza as she now had a real smile on her face.

"Oh that was nothing but me doing my job." responded Savage not wanting to get praise for just doing her job.

"Yea but I really don't know if we would have survived, not to mention that we would have gone in there clueless and probably wouldn't have figured out how to kill that shade or even that it was a shade. So how about you come back with us to Fairy Tail as a way to thank you, and there's going to be a surprise that you won't want to miss." said Erza with a big smile.

"I don't know if I can do that, I am supposed to return and get back to training after this job." replied Savage.

"Just tell your teacher that it took longer to find the shade, and come with us and everything will be on us." suggested Erza, which no one from the guild would ever believe that Erza wanted someone to lie to their teacher.

"That could work and might have actually happened if you guys weren't with me." said Savage.

"Come on Savage I am not going to accept anything but a yes from you." said Erza.

"Fine Erza, yes I will go back to Fairy Tail with you guys but only for a bit." replied Savage with a small smile.

"Great and I know that you'll love it there." said Erza with a grin on her face.

 **Two days later at Fairy Tail:**

"Aunt Mira when is uncle Natsu going to be here?" asked Asuka as she tugged on Mira's dress.

"In just a bit Asuka." replied Mira as she handed a few members their orders. The guild was completely packed and Mira and the other barmaids were all working and could barely keep up with all of the orders. Most of the people at the guild were members but there were a quite a few civilians who somehow heard that Natsu was going to be returning to Fairy Tail today and wanted to be there and possibly meet the mage that was the talk of Fiore.

"But I want uncle Natsu here now." said Asuka with her pouting face on and started to play with her pink medallion that could tell Natsu she was in trouble.

"Asuka you know that uncle Natsu wouldn't be pleased if you used that again and it wasn't an actually emergency." said Mira in a motherly tone.

"I know aunt Mira, but I really want to see him again." pouted Asuka.

"Me too Asuka, but he's going to be here in just ten minutes, so be a big girl for uncle Natsu and wait patiently." replied Mira with a big smile.

"Okay aunt Mira." said Asuka with a big smile and took off into the crowd.

"I really can't remember the last time this many people were all here at once." said Macao with a big grin.

"Well it's not every day that infamous Salamander stops by." replied Wakaba with grin that matched Macao.

"You two are just jealous that Natsu is this popular." said Gildarts who was surprisingly at the guild.

"And you aren't Gildarts?" asked Wakaba still grinning.

"Why would I be jealous of Natsu?" asked Gildarts with his goofy grin.

"Because you've never had this big of a party for your return from a mission." pointed out Macao causing Gildarts to lose his grin and a few other mages to start laughing at him.

"Hey, you know that also applies to the rest of you as well." shouted Gildarts causing a few of them to only laugh harder while the others realized that it was true.

"I can't believe that Team Natsu hasn't come back yet, they were probably some of the most excited members when Mira told us." said Cana with a grin.

"Don't worry Cana; they'll be here any minute now. Erza has been calling every ten minutes to see if he's here yet, even after I told her that he's not going to show up until Mira destroys that lacrima at ten." replied Master Makarov with a grin.

"When did she last call you Master?" asked Laxus who was also waiting for Natsu to show up.

"That was just about ten minutes ago and since she hasn't called again I can only assume that they are literally running here right now." said Master Makarov with a grin.

"I really don't know why they are so excited, they know that Natsu still hasn't forgiven them yet." said Wendy who was sitting in between Gajeel and Laxus with the three Exceeds sitting in front of them on the bar counter.

"That is true Wendy but this gives them hope that they might one day become his friend and possibly family once again." explained Master Makarov still grinning.

"That would really be a miracle if he ever saw them as family again." stated Wendy with a frown.

"They do happen, Wendy." said Master Makarov with a big grin.

"I can't wait to fight Salamander, the last two times we didn't get to because of certain things happening." said Gajeel with a big grin.

"Gajeel why is that the first thing you want to do when you see Natsu?" asked Levy who was of course sitting on the other side of him.

"That's because Salamander promised me that we could fight whenever we met to see whose stronger." replied Gajeel with even a bigger grin.

"Oh Natsu is so going to get it, he didn't make me a promise like that." said Laxus who was sporting a sinister grin.

"Are you saying that you want to fight Natsu too Laxus?" asked Mira who was behind the bar right now.

"Of course Mira, he's strong as hell and if you all remember he did tie in a fight with Gildarts before he left." said Laxus still grinning.

"That reminds me, Natsu and I need to have a rematch." said Gildarts with his goofy grin on his face once again.

"You'll have to wait until after me Gildarts." declared Happy causing everyone except for the Exceeds and dragon slayers to drop their mouths wide open.

"Why would you want to fight him Happy?" asked Lisanna who was about to leave with some members orders but happened to hear their conversation.

"To show Natsu how much I have grown since he's been gone." said Happy with a big grin.

"Good for you Happy and I am sure that Natsu will love to fight with you." said Mira with a big smile as she left with a tray full of drinks.

"You are all crazy for wanting to fight him, the only one who still has a chance against Natsu now is Gildarts." stated Levy.

"Hey, what makes you say that Shrimp?" asked Gajeel who didn't want to hear that from Levy of all people.

"Sorry Gajeel but it's true, Natsu is the Fire King and that is not a title that is just thrown around. I have finally found a book on the Elemental Kings and according to it the Fire Kings were undisputedly the strongest among all the elements and were tasked with keeping peace between the other kingdoms. So along with Natsu having who knows how much power because of him being the Fire King he also has that new mode that gave Gildarts a run for his money. And this whole time Natsu has been on his own for the last seven months with nothing to do but train and search for that mystery person, meaning that he got more training in than any of you guys." explained Levy.

"Still going to fight him Shrimp." replied Gajeel with a big grin causing Levy to roll her eyes while all of the other people who wanted to challenge Natsu nod their heads in agreement with Gajeel.

"Did that book tell you any new information about what the Fire Kings could do Levy?" asked Cana.

"Once again I didn't get much on the Fire Kings, but I did learn about the other Elemental Kings. It almost seems like the Fire King's information has been purposely left out." replied Levy with a frown just as the doors burst open.

"Is he here yet?" asked Erza loudly.

"Nope, not yet Erza." said Mira with a big smile as she continued to weave through the crowd handing them their orders.

"Good I would have been upset with myself if we missed his arrival." said Erza as the rest of her team and Savage came into the guild.

"Wow, is Fairy Tail always this packed?" asked Savage as she followed Erza through the crowd.

"Nope there is only this many people here because of the surprise that I think you might enjoy." replied Erza with a big smile as they got to the bar.

"Glad to hear that your mission was a success Erza." said Master Makarov with a grin.

"That is only thanks to Savage here Master, without her we all might have died because of not knowing what we were dealing with." replied Erza shocking everyone around them.

"Well thank you for helping my members out Savage and for doing that anything that you want is on the house." said Master Makarov with a grateful smile on his face.

"It really wasn't that much and it was actually all thanks to my teacher." said Savage with a grin.

"Well I will have to thank your teacher when I see them." said Master Makarov causing Savage to think that it was really funny that her teacher seemed to keep saving this guild without even trying.

"He's actually a big fan of Fairy Tail but Savage won't tell us who he is." said Lucy as she made her way into the group.

"Obviously Savage understands some people want privacy." replied Wendy with a smug smile.

"So what did you guys encounter that was so difficult?" asked Master Makarov not wanting Wendy getting into an argument with Team Natsu.

"It was a shade, Master." answered Erza as both Gildarts and Master Makarov eyes shot wide open.

"Why was that information not on the flyer?" asked Master Makarov angrily.

"Because they didn't know what the monster was but luckily Savage's teacher connected the dots and had her do the job." said Erza with a big smile.

"Even knowing what it was a shade doesn't make it an easy fight." stated Gildarts who had a few run-ins with shades before and they weren't pleasant memories.

"Yea we know that, but luckily Savage saved us a few times." said Grey as he lifted up his shirt showing them his new wound.

"I am truly in your debt Savage and would really like to thank your teacher as well." said Master Makarov.

"You will probably be able to do that in a few months." replied Savage shocking Team Natsu because she never said anything like that to them.

"Why do we have to wait a few months?" asked Grey.

"Because that is when I can tell people who my teacher is." replied Savage with a grin.

"Alright everyone the moment you've all been waiting for. I present to you the Natsu Dragneel aka the Salamander." said Mira as she destroyed the lacrima on the stage.

"The Salamander is going to be here?" asked Savage nervously.

"Yes he is and I am sure that he'll be more than happy to spend some time with you." said Erza as she looked at Savage.

"I think I am going to go." said Savage as she tried to leave but was stopped by Erza grabbing her shoulder.

"What's wrong Savage?" asked Erza just as Natsu's fire dragon let out a roar. But unlike the other times it continued to stay there and let out another after which it went onto all four legs and pulled in its wings and looked at the guild while letting out another roar.

"What's going on Mira, and why isn't Natsu here yet?" asked Wendy with concern in her voice as she came up to Mira.

"I have no idea Wendy." said Mira as she watched the fire dragon once again get on its hind legs and let out a tremendous roar louder than any before as its head was raised proudly with its wings spread wide. And then out from it stumbled a severely beaten man wearing a work out suit that was torn to shreds causing the whole guild to gasp.

"Shit that was intense." said the man as he started to dust off the ash that covered him.

"Natsu is that you?" asked Mira as she looked at the man that had blood and ash all over him and whose hair was black and red for the same reason.

"Yep and I am sorry about my appearance I have been doing some intense training." answered Natsu as he walked over to her with a big smile.

"What type of training was it that made you look like this and what was up with your teleportation, the dragon went all crazy this time?" asked Mira as she hugged Natsu not caring that he was going to be ruining her dress.

"Well about the training I am not going to tell you that since you'll only get mad at me Mira. As for why this time the dragon acted different I would have to assume that was because I wasn't in Fiore when I teleported back here, and before you ask that is also going to stay a secret Mira." answered Natsu with a grin.

"Natsu." said Mira as she gave him a glare and his response to that was to smile and then kiss Mira right in front of the whole guild without a care in the world. This caused the guild to explode with some cheering others becoming upset that they were wrong about who he liked while others were just disappointed that Mira was no longer single.

"I am glad to see you too Mira." said Natsu after he finished kissing her.

"Natsu you do know that they whole guild was watching us when you did that right?" asked Mira as she started to blush.

"That didn't stop you Mira when we were being photographed for a magazine that all of Fiore saw." replied Natsu with a big grin and loud enough for everyone else to hear and calm down some thinking that Natsu might have just been getting Mira back.

"You're a jerk Natsu." whispered Mira as she glared at him.

"Hey I just learned from the best Mira." said Natsu as he winked at her.

"Hello Fairy Tail and apparently guests it's great to see all of you and I will be more than happy to spend time with each and every single one of you." said Natsu with a big smile as he locked eyes with Savage and only had his smile get bigger.

"I guess it might not be a bad idea to see him." said Savage as she stopped trying to get away.

"Good I know that you two will hit it off right away." replied Erza with a smile.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. So the next chapter is pretty much going to be Natsu spending a day with Fairy Tail getting into fights with a few of the members and then also the photoshoot that I might not have in there if I don't have anything important or interesting happen during it. And I will probably end it with another one month time skip leaving it just one month away from the Grand Magic Games. Which I have some ideas of what I want to do with it but I am open to suggestions for what events should take place each day and who you want to see fighting from the guilds if you even want that. So as always feel free to leave me a review and I will try and get back to you.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	28. A Day With Fairies

Chapter 28: A Day With Fairies

After Natsu got washed up he went back into the main hall wearing his plain white outfit without the hat, blazer and coat. Where everyone was waiting for him since this was his first scheduled visit to Fairy Tail since he left. As Natsu stepped out, the guild was completely quiet with all eyes on him waiting for him to say something.

"What's up?" asked Natsu with his usual grin as everyone continued to stare at him.

"Most of them still can't get over the fact that you actually came here after becoming such a big shot Natsu." replied Mira with a grin.

"Oh that's why everyone is acting weird so weird." said Natsu with the same grin.

"Well that and you not minding Team Natsu being here." whispered Mira into his ear.

"Don't they know that we've already talked?" asked Natsu.

"Yep but they still don't know how you'll actually react to them." stated Mira.

"AHAHAH man I am glad to see that you guys still make big things out of nothing." said Natsu after chuckling.

"It seems that Natsu still has his carefree attitude." said Gildarts with a big goofy grin on his face.

"Come on Gildarts that is something that I will always have when I am not on a job. And I can now understand why you always took jobs that required you to be always traveling, it is quite peaceful and somehow very relaxing." replied Natsu as he made his way to Gildarts.

"Well that is one of the reasons I do them Natsu but the main one is that they are the only ones that can give me a challenge." said Gildarts.

"Well I wouldn't know now about that Gildarts since I can't take S-Class jobs as you know." said Natsu causing a lot of the members of Fairy Tail to lose their smiles.

"Natsu I am…" said Gildarts but was cut off.

"Gildarts that is all in the past so let's leave it there and just have a good time in the present." suggested Natsu with a small smile.

"You're right Natsu, so where did you get that expensive booze you gave me?" asked Gildarts who was back to his old self.

"Of course you would want to know about that Gildarts, no wonder Cana is the way she is." stated Natsu.

"Hey what are you trying to say Natsu?" asked Cana as she glared at Natsu.

"That I now know why you like booze so much." replied Natsu as the rest of the guild started to have their own conversations and started acting normal again.

"So are you going to tell me Natsu?" asked Gildarts.

"Nope." was Natsu's simple reply.

"How about I fight you for it?" suggested Gildarts with a grin.

"Now that sounds like some fun." replied Natsu as he had his usual grin on his face.

"It'll be the first fight for either of us in that arena you bought for us." stated Gildarts as he got up.

"Oh yeah I forgot about that, so how is it?" asked Natsu.

"It's really nice Natsu and saves Fairy Tail a lot of money since we have less fights breaking out in the guild, so thank you for that." said Makarov with a big smile.

"I really don't know why you didn't build one of those things years ago Makarov?" asked Natsu as he started to follow Gildarts out to the arena.

"Wait a minute Salamander, there is no way I am letting Gildarts have first go at you after we didn't fight the last two times you stopped by." said Gajeel with a confident smirk on his face.

"You've got a point there Gajeel, so sorry Gildarts but we are going to have to postpone this until a little later." said Natsu with a sheepish grin spread across his face for forgetting that he promised Gajeel that they would fight the next time that he visited.

"I am okay with that Natsu." said Gildarts as he exited through the back door.

"So you ready Gajeel?" asked Natsu as he turned around to look at Gajeel.

"You know it Salamander." replied Gajeel with an actual smile on his face as he then followed Natsu out back.

"Taking all bets on this fight and all others that follow." announced Cana as she got out the board that people could place their bets on.

"What does she mean by that?" asked Savage as most of the guild went out back to find new seats to watch the upcoming battles between Natsu and members of Fairy Tail in the arena that he bought them.

"Well Fairy Tail has always enjoyed sparring with each other, and Natsu used to do that the most when he was younger. But that was before he got really strong so of course other members want to see how they compare to him especially after he beat Jura. Honestly I am thinking about seeing if he wants to fight me as well." explained Erza as they found a good spot in the arena to watch.

"Is that really the best way to welcome someone who used to be a member?" asked Savage as she watched Natsu start to stretch.

"Normally no, but this is Natsu we're talking about so this is probably the best thing we could do for him and he is always looking for a good fight." stated Erza.

"I wonder if he'd be willing to spar me?" asked Savage with a small grin.

"Okay everyone, I am willing to continue fighting everyone that wants to until I get beat or bored." stated Natsu as he heard a few other people having similar conversations as the one Savage and Erza had.

"Then I am the next one to fight you Natsu." declared Happy with a big grin.

"Alright Happy, I can't wait to see how strong you've become." said Natsu as he looked at his best friend.

"Then I am after him." stated Laxus which surprised a few people.

"You two aren't even going to get the chance since Salamander's going to lose against me." said Gajeel with a confident smirk spread across his face.

"We'll see about that Gajeel, oh and to all of the guests feel free to join in if you want. This isn't just a Fairy Tail thing since I said that I was willing to spend time with everyone." said Natsu as he put away his sunglasses.

"So what are the rules Salamander?" asked Gajeel.

"That's up to you since you're the challenger and I am willing to do any sort of duel." replied Natsu as he rolled up his sleeves.

"Then how about we do this one without magic since I wouldn't want to scare our spectators with both of us going at it at full power." said Gajeel.

"I don't think I would need to do that to beat you Gajeel, besides they'll be completely fine since this arena is supposed to have the best protective runes possible." stated Natsu knowing that it would anger Gajeel.

"That's it Salamander we're going to allow magic now so I can prove you wrong." shouted Gajeel as he glared at Natsu.

"Gajeel that's exactly what Natsu wanted!" shouted Levy who was slightly ashamed that Gajeel was baited in to that so easily.

"Too late Levy, it's now a fight where I can go all out." said Natsu with a mischievous grin.

"Let's just start this already Salamander." said Gajeel who couldn't believe that he already let Natsu get under his skin.

"Go get him uncle Natsu!" cheered Asuka who was sitting next to her mom and dad.

"Will do Asuka." replied Natsu as he smiled up at her.

"Without further ado let's get this started, and a quick reminder no fatal blows." said Makarov as he then rang a bell and both of the dragon slayers bolted at each other. They instantly started to throw basic attacks at each other without any magic behind them and right away everyone could see that Natsu had the upper hand thanks to him being faster than Gajeel.

"Screw this Salamander, let's see how you handle me using my iron scales." said Gajeel as they separated and he was now completely encased in metal.

"I think I will be fine with only adding a little fire to my punches Gajeel." replied Natsu as he coated both of his fists in fire.

"Time for round two Salamander." shouted Gajeel, confident that Natsu's little bit of fire wasn't going to be enough to break through his iron scales that were now way stronger than the last time Natsu went up against them. But the grin that Natsu was giving Gajeel as he waited for him to get there was a little unnerving for Gajeel.

Gajeel threw a right hook at Natsu who dodged it with speeds that he's never seen him use before and countered with three quick jabs to his chest. After he landed them Natsu backed off with his grin only getting bigger making Gajeel only get angrier at Natsu and caused him to launch another attack this time using a combination of kicks and punches. But just like the first time Natsu dodged them or blocked them easily and then landed another round of jabs to Gajeel's chest.

"What's with that smug grin Salamander, I could barely feel those." stated Gajeel as he glared at Natsu.

"Is that so Gajeel then why don't you take a look at your chest then." said Natsu still grinning. Gajeel then slowly looked down and saw that there was a hole in his shirt but what really surprised him was that there was already large crack spreading from the spot that Natsu had hit him repeatedly.

"How the hell did you do that with such weak punches?" asked Gajeel who was confused.

"Sorry Gajeel but that's a secret that I am going to have to keep for myself, so how about we decided who the victor is with a roar since I have a lot of challengers waiting." suggested Natsu.

"I am fine with that as long as you don't use that new mode you have." replied Gajeel with a confident smirk.

"Fine by me since all I need's my trusty fire." stated Natsu as he got into a wide stance.

 **"IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!"** shouted Gajeel while Natsu shouted **"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"** and the crowd watched as the two roars collided in the middle as both slayers looked like they were evenly matched. That is until a few more seconds passed and Natsu's roar started to push Gajeel's roar back while continuing to get bigger until it easily overpowered Gajeel and sent him flying into the side of the arena.

"That was fun Gajeel, looks like this time was my win. Next time we'll have to have a legit battle where other people won't be waiting to fight me." said Natsu as he appeared in front of Gajeel and offered him a hand to get up.

"Then it's a deal Salamander and nothing is going to get in the way next time." replied Gajeel as he grabbed Natsu's hand while having a big grin on his face.

"You can count on that Gajeel, so how has life been treating you?" asked Natsu as he slung his arm around Gajeel's shoulder.

"Not too bad Salamander and being able to do S-Class jobs again is really nice." replied Gajeel as he and Natsu continued to quickly catch back up as they walked to the exit of the arena. This of course shocked most of Fairy Tail since before Natsu left they had never actually seen the two slayers have a conversation that wasn't happening while they weren't hitting each other in the face.

"When the hell did those two become so close?" asked Lucy who was one of the most surprised.

"That's what I want to know?" asked Grey with a small grin after watching Natsu and Gajeel's fight.

"I thought that those two always hated each other." stated Jet.

"They've always been this close after fighting Laxus together but those two only showed it when they were fighting each other before. But now that they don't see each other every day they have decided to stop hiding it." explained Levy with a big grin.

"Really, how come you were the only one to notice this?" asked Lucy.

"She wasn't Lucy; you just needed to pay attention to how Natsu acted with Gajeel then it was pretty obvious. They're actually similar on a lot of things like keeping their thoughts and emotions to themselves unless it's absolutely necessary." said Mira with a faint smile as Levy nodded her head in agreement.

"Of course you two would know about this considering who we are talking about." stated Erza with a small grin.

"Sorry but since I am not part of your guild I am a little confused as to why this is such a big deal?" asked Savage as she looked at the group of Fairy Tail mages sitting with her.

"Well you see, Gajeel used to be our enemy at one point and did some really terrible things. And when he first joined us Natsu and him didn't get along at all and pretty much the only thing that the two of them did together was beat the shit out of each other. Which is why most of Fairy Tail is surprised to see them acting like they are best friends who haven't seen each other in a while." explained Erza with a smile on her face from thinking about how things used to be just a year ago.

"Oh and their girlfriends where the only ones to notice that they were actually close friends for a while now." stated Savage confident that she now understood what's going on.

"I'm not dating Natsu." replied Mira with a small blush on her cheeks.

"And I am also not dating Gajeel either." denied Levy as she turned away from them.

"Sorry I just assumed since you two knew things about them that others didn't and Salamander sure made it look like you were when he kissed you Mira." said Savage with a little grin.

"It's okay and he only did that to get back at me for me doing something similar to him but during a photoshoot." explained Mira as her blush only grew.

"Oh I know and so does the rest of Fiore." said Savage with a smirk.

"Well it looks like the next match is up." said Mira causing all of them to look into the arena as Natsu and Happy were twenty feet apart from each other.

"He's going to fight with that cat?" asked Savage who was shocked to see a fight like this happening.

"Just wait and see Savage, Happy is no longer as harmless as he seems." said Lucy with a big smile.

"So I take it you want to have a duel Happy?" asked Natsu with one of the biggest smiles anyone has ever seen him have.

"That I do Natsu, the only thing that you can't do is use your magic." stated Happy who had a smile just as big as Natsu's.

"Well is it okay if I grab a sword before we start?" asked Natsu causing most of Fairy Tail to gasp since Natsu never uses a weapon.

"Go right ahead Natsu." said Happy as he went into his battle form and drew his katana that was the appropriate size for him.

"Alright buddy let's have a fun fight." said Natsu as he re-equipped a longsword that looked fairly new and fancy that had a longer than normal handle with an elaborate guard. At the center of the guard it had an emblem that they couldn't quite make out because of the distance they were watching from.

"This is going to be our very first fight Natsu." stated Happy as he got into a stance with his blade pointed at Natsu.

"So I take it you aren't going to hold back?" asked Natsu as he twirled the sword showing that he was actually skilled with it.

"Of course not Natsu, because that's not how we've always done things." replied Happy as he launched himself at Natsu and swung his sword right at Natsu's neck. Which Natsu was able to block by simply raising his sword with one hand while giving Happy a huge grin.

"Damn Happy you've gotten strong, I almost needed to use both hands to block that swing." said Natsu as he directed Happy's blade to his right while then doing a quick spin that brought him to the spot right behind Happy. And with a quick swing of his sword Natsu expected to hit the back of Happy but was surprised to hear it clang against Happy's sword as he was already facing Natsu with a big grin.

"It's not going to be that easy Natsu." said Happy as he started to attack Natsu with a barrage of slashes and jabs that forced Natsu to go on the defense.

"Now we're talking!" shouted Natsu as he started to laugh as if this was the most fun he ever had in his life. And for the next five minutes they had a fierce battle where they were evenly matched which surprised most of the spectators that Happy was able to keep up with Natsu. Even though Natsu was fighting with something that none of them had ever seen him use before, except for a certain someone who couldn't help but grin at Natsu having the biggest smile she's ever seen on him.

"Let's just call it a draw Happy." suggested Natsu as they had their swords locked with each other.

"No way Natsu, that's the same as giving up which is something that I am never going to do." replied Happy who was now showing signs of fatigue.

"Happy that is wrong when you are just having a friendly spar with friends, but I can see that I won't be able to talk you out of this. So Happy I am really sorry about this buddy." said Natsu as he then started to swing away at Happy putting him instantly on the defense while also leaving a few openings that Natsu took advantage with either a swift punch or kick.

"I'm not done yet Natsu!" shouted Happy but was caught off guard with Natsu doing something weird with his sword that eventually ended with Happy's sword being knocked out of his hand. And as he watched the sword twirl in the air he felt something hit him in the chest and launch him into the ground. Looking up Happy saw the tip of Natsu's sword pointed at his throat with Natsu grinning down at him.

"Happy I am amazed that you became this strong in under a year." stated Natsu.

"Yea but it still wasn't enough to beat you Natsu." said Happy with a slight frown.

"Of course you couldn't Happy; I have been training for my whole life. So if you did that it would mean that I haven't been training like I should have been." said Natsu as he re-equipped his sword away and offered Happy a hand.

"Yea but we were doing a duel with swords which is something that you haven't been trained in." replied Happy as he was pulled up by Natsu.

"Who said that I haven't been training with swords and do you know how hard it is to fight against an armed opponent with just your fists like I used to do?" asked Natsu.

"Probably really hard since you can't really block." said Happy who then turned back to his normal small form.

"Darn right it is Happy, so I know how to read my opponent's body to get a really good idea of what they are going to do next. Especially if they are using a sword since that is Erza's weapon of choice." explained Natsu to Happy who was now sitting on his shoulder with a big smile on his face.

"So does this mean I can come with you when you leave?" asked Happy while still smiling.

"Well since you proved to me just now that I won't have to be concerned about you getting hurt if I am not always there with you, why not." answered Natsu as he smiled at his best friend.

"Alright the best team ever is back in action!" cheered Happy.

"That we are Happy, but it will only be for the next two months. After that I will have to do some things that you won't be able to be there for because of reasons that I can't get into right now." stated Natsu.

"Why not?" asked Happy.

"Sorry buddy but I can't tell you that, and I will probably be gone for a few days ever once in a while during the next two months as well." said Natsu with a slight frown.

"What, why do you have to do that Natsu?" asked Happy with a sad face.

"Because of previous obligations Happy and you know that I will always make sure that I complete any job that I have started." answered Natsu.

"Yeah, but I really wanted to stay with you Natsu." said Happy.

"I know Happy, but it isn't so bad not being with me every single day of the year now is it?" asked Natsu quietly with a small grin.

"I guess not, but we all miss you Natsu." replied Happy quietly as well.

"I miss you too Happy but you just proved to me that you don't need me to protect you anymore, now you are actually able to protect others which makes me so proud to have such a strong son." said Natsu with proud smirk spread across his face.

"Aye Sir!" cheered Happy with more enthusiasm than he's had since Natsu left Fairy Tail.

"Alright who's up next?" asked Natsu loudly with a determined look on his face as a bolt of lightning struck the middle of the arena.

"That would be me Natsu." said Laxus as he walked out of the dust cloud that he created when coming into the arena with his lightning.

"I would have thought that you wouldn't waste your time with a mage not even able to become S-Class Laxus?" asked Natsu causing a few members to feel bad and realize that Natsu still hadn't completely gotten over that just yet.

"Well from what the magazines have been saying about you Natsu that was a pretty big mistake made by us." replied Laxus not really affected by Natsu bringing it back up.

"I'd say, so far every guild that has tried to recruit me has always offered up being an S-Class mage if I joined them. Some even offered things that you wouldn't believe, especially if they were some of the smaller guilds, like becoming their guild Master." stated Natsu once again shocking the spectators and even Laxus.

"Are you serious Natsu?" asked Laxus with a shocked expression.

"Absolutely Laxus, since they believed that I could get them into the top eight guilds by myself in the upcoming Grand Magic Games. One of the big guilds even offered getting revenge on Fairy Tail at those stupid games, and it was actually a tempting offer if their Master didn't only offer me that since he wanted me to be his subordinate." stated Natsu with a growl once again shocking everyone else listening.

"Who the hell would make an offer like that?" asked Laxus as he started to go through the big guilds.

"Come on, who has a nice little friendly rivalry going on with Fairy Tail." stated Natsu as he rolled his eyes.

"Sabretooth!" shouted a few members in shock.

"Ding ding ding we have a winner, but as you can all see I am still not part of a different guild." said Natsu as he pointed to his right shoulder that could be seen since Happy almost landed an attack there and Natsu's sleeve was cut so you could see his bare shoulder.

"I can't believe that they would offer that to Natsu." said Lucy as she shook her head.

"I can Lucy, like Natsu said we already have a rivalry established so it makes sense that they would want Natsu." said Erza with a frown.

"But to offer him revenge on us." stated Lucy.

"I am just surprised that he said he was tempted." said Grey who felt responsible for all of this happening.

"Sabretooth offering that to Natsu was actually really smart since that was actually the only revenge that he would ever take. And it seems that Natsu even considered it for a bit." said Mira with a slight frown.

"Well isn't it what Natsu actually did the most illogical thing for a mage to do?" asked Savage.

"Since we're talking about Natsu not really since he has always done whatever he wanted to do." replied Mira with a smile.

"That's true." said Erza who also had a faint smile.

"I just wish he would come back to us." stated Lucy with a slight frown on her face.

"I think we all do Lucy, but as Natsu has already told all of us he's moved onto a new chapter of his life." said Mira who was surprisingly still smiling.

"How are you of all people Mira, okay with that?" asked Lucy who was completely surprised to see Mira still smiling.

"Just because Natsu isn't a member of Fairy Tail anymore doesn't mean we aren't going to see him anymore. Today is a perfect example of that, and since he can teleport now there isn't really anything stopping him from visiting more often." answered Mira with her normal smile.

"Except for people that he would rather not see for who knows how long." said Grey with a sad look on his face.

"Time heals all wounds Grey, so just wait a bit longer and I am sure that you two will be fighting like you used to." said Mira as she gave him an encouraging smile.

"I don't know about that last part Mira, it seems like Natsu is completely done with getting into pointless arguments and fights. And if I am not mistaken he's only doing these fights now since he knows how much everyone else wants to do them." said Erza with her stoic expression on her face like usual.

"I'd have to agree with Erza on this one." stated Savage without even thinking.

"Why do you think that Savage?" asked Lucy who was intrigued by her of all people saying that since she didn't even know Natsu.

"Well from what I have read about him of course. He used to only be in Sorcerer's Weekly for destroying stuff but now he hasn't done that even once and is only in it when does something like saving a town or other random people in need." explained Savage hoping that would be enough to cover for her earlier comment.

"He has really matured since leaving us hasn't he." said Erza with a slight smile.

"No Erza he's been that way for a while but now that he is no longer a Fairy Tail mage people are finally noticing it." stated Mira with a frown as it now looked like the fight between Natsu and Laxus was actually going to start.

"So we are both agreed that we are going to take this completely serious, right Natsu?" asked Laxus with a big grin.

"Alright Laxus if you are sure that is what you want." stated Natsu with a slightly bored expression on his face.

"Oh it is Natsu." said Laxus as he got into his fighting stance waiting for the bell to ring and signal the start of the match. Which as soon as it did he bolted at Natsu ready to hit him in the face before Natsu knew what was even happening, but right when he was only five feet away from Natsu he jumped back out of instinct.

And it was a good thing that he did because a huge pillar of black and orange fire with lightning shot up from where Natsu was standing going at least five stories high. As Natsu shouted **"LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON GOD'S MODE!"** while giving off eminence amounts of magic causing most of the spectators to almost pass out due to the overwhelming amount of power being displayed by Natsu. And the only reason they didn't was thanks to the protective runes around the arena that were now getting a real test of what they were capable of.

"Shit, this isn't going to be fun." mumbled Laxus to himself.

"You said that you wanted me to take it seriously Laxus and this is as serious as I can get without destroying everything around us." said Natsu with a huge grin as all three types of magic coated him.

"Are you saying that you can do something even more impressive than this?" asked Laxus as he tried to come up with a good strategy of how to fight Natsu.

"Yes I can Laxus but I only use that for emergencies since it's really taxing on me and drains a lot of my magic, **FIRE DRAGON GOD'S FIREFALL!"** shouted Natsu as he launched a giant ball of fire into the air like he usually did but this one had black flames mixed in as well.

"That isn't a very effective attack Natsu. And doesn't that mode take a lot out of you?" asked Laxus with a grin as he easily dodged all of the fire that was slowly raining down from the sky. Laxus also decided that he was going to try and keep Natsu at a distance in this fight because he wasn't as skilled in that area since most of his moves are melee based.

"You of all people Laxus should know that not every move has to be offensive and this mode no longer takes too much out of me after training with it like I have been. As for that last move I did it because I can now do this, **LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON GOD'S CLAW!"** shouted Natsu as he all of a sudden appeared behind Laxus and swung a kick right at Laxus's left side. But thanks to Laxus's great reflexes he was just barely able to block it with both of his arms crossed making and X shape and was only pushed back five feet.

"Shit that still hurt like hell." stated Laxus as he looked to where Natsu used to be and was surprised that he was no longer there.

 **"LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON GOD'S IRON FISTS!"** shouted Natsu as he once again was behind Laxus in an instant but this time was actually able to land two punches before Laxus got his guard up. As Laxus was blocking Natsu's constant assault on him which was really annoying since he could literally always appear right behind him because of the fire raining down on the arena, he knew that he had to do something fast otherwise Natsu was going to get an easy win on him.

" **Lightning Body!** " shouted out Laxus feeling like an idiot for taking this long to remember that he could move just as fast as Natsu was but without having set spots that he had to go to. And this started a very intense game of chase with each one trying to get behind the other or finding a break in the other's defense which was very unlikely since they were both extremely experienced fighters.

"I can't even see them anymore, all I am seeing are streaks of lightning and fire zipping around the arena." stated Lucy which was actually what most of the other spectators were seeing as well.

"You aren't actually missing much Lucy, except for the occasional punch or kick that the other one blocks." stated Savage as she continued to watch the fight intently.

"It would appear that if Laxus doesn't do something quick he's going to lose this." said Erza as she couldn't take her eyes off of the fight as well.

"Why do you say that Erza?" asked Grey who could just barely make out the blurs that where Laxus and Natsu appearing all over the arena.

"Well whenever Laxus blocks one of Natsu's attacks he's still getting hit by Natsu's dragon fire and god fire. While Natsu on the other hand is pretty much just absorbing Laxus's lightning as if it isn't even affecting him which it might not be." explained Erza as she then watched Laxus do something very unexpected that actually caused her mouth to drop open wide.

Rather than going to another spot on the arena floor like he was doing for the past five minutes Laxus launched himself right at Natsu's huge ball of fire in the air. And right before he made contact with it he shouted **"LIGHTNING DRAGON'S BREAKDOWN FIST!"** as he punched the ball of fire causing it to explode and rain more fire down than normal but stopping the continuous rain of fire.

"I was wondering when you were going to realize how much that little spell of mine was hurting you." stated Natsu who was standing on one side of the arena while Laxus was at the other end with a huge grin on his face.

"I am ashamed that it took me that long Natsu, but now I have the advantage." stated Laxus still grinning confidently.

"HAHAHAHA are you so sure about that Laxus?" asked Natsu as Laxus appeared behind him and swung a kick to Natsu's unguarded side. But instead of making a hit, his foot swung straight through Natsu while giving him an extremely painful burning sensation on his foot and ankle.

"What the hell did you just do Natsu?" asked Laxus as he appeared back at his old location and looked at his foot that received slight burns on his last attack.

"Oh that was something that I learned a while ago Laxus and have finally just gotten the hang of it. The best thing to compare it to would be Juvia and how she can turn herself to water whenever she wants to but I just so happen to turn into fire." answered Natsu with a big grin.

"That's very impressive Natsu but I still have speed on you, and I also made an observation that you never teleported to any of your black flames." stated Laxus as he got ready to start hitting Natsu with some long range attacks and change how this fight has been going, to him having the advantage.

"You are very observant Laxus, it's probably why you've been such a good S-Class wizard along with some other reasons." stated Natsu as he grinned up at Makarov making the old man feel worse than he already did about this whole situation that he handled terribly.

"So what's the point of sending them out if you can't use them?" asked Laxus as he was about to start blasting Natsu with his Lightning Blast but stopped after seeing Natsu do something once again completely unexpected.

"Who said that I couldn't do anything with them Laxus, you should know that there is always a reason why I do the things that I do." replied Natsu with a creepy grin on his face as all of the fire started to levitate in the air and then with a flick of Natsu's wrist ten different balls of fire launched themselves at Laxus. Who was actually able to dodge all but two of them.

"I actually didn't believe you when you said that you could do this Natsu, I have to remember I am not fighting a normal fire mage or even a fire dragon slayer but the Fire King." said Laxus with a big grin who couldn't help but be impressed with how easily Natsu was winning this fight so far.

"It would be a smart move to never forget that Laxus and I would prefer it if you don't go around spreading that little bit of information about me." said Natsu as he was launching more of the balls of fire at Laxus who was eventually forced to go into his Lighting body again. But continued to have to keep moving because Natsu was able to keep up with his movement and launched fireballs at any place Laxus tried to land.

"What was that about the Salamander being the Fire King?" asked Savage as she turned to Levy who she could easily tell was the most knowledgeable one out of the group just by how she talked. And Savage was surprised to see that Gajeel was right next to her with an arm around her and a very content smile on his face as he watched the battle going on.

"I don't know if I should tell you since it's Natsu's secret to keep and tell if he wants to." stated Levy with a slight frown.

"Oh come on Shrimp, she already knows about it which is pretty much the only important part." stated Gajeel with a smirk.

"Then what about him having the ability to do things that no other fire mage can do like his teleporting and even healing with his flames." said Levy who looked at Gajeel who now had a huge smile on his face.

"You tricked me you jerk." said Levy as she lightly hit Gajeel in the chest.

"Well you already told her some of it, so might as well fill her in correctly so if she does spread this information it will at least be correct." replied Gajeel still smiling at Levy.

"Sure you aren't a couple." stated Savage with a grin.

"Well you see Natsu is a Dragneel, who have been the kings of the fire nation for years." replied Levy completely ignoring Savages comment.

"And that mainly means Natsu is the strongest that there is when dealing with fire, and all the other fire users out there pretty much have to listen to what he says. Otherwise it would be seen as them challenging him for his position which would result in a battle that would most likely end with Natsu as the victor." explained Levy.

"I didn't know that such a thing existed." said Savage who had honestly never heard about anything like this.

"That's not surprising since Acnologia pretty much single handily destroyed all of that years ago, and the only ones that probably still follow that old way would be the other magical creatures out there. Which makes me wonder if Natsu will ever try to bring it back, but that is something we'd have to ask him." said Levy who stopped because the fight took another unexpected turn after Natsu ran out of his black balls of fire. And that was him shouting out **"LIGHTNING FLAME GOD'S BODY!"** and was actually now faster than Laxus and started to land a few hits on Laxus.

"Wow he wasn't lying when he said that he wasn't going to be at a disadvantage." stated Gajeel with a big grin.

"Do you still want to fight him after watching this?" asked Savage who had her own grin.

"Of course I do, Salamander is definitely someone that I need to keep fighting." replied Gajeel who looked like he wanted to jump right in there now and join in.

"Why on earth would you want to do that Gajeel when you can't even beat Laxus who is obviously having a hard time with Natsu?" asked Lucy who actually should have seen Gajeel's response coming from a mile away.

"You'll never understand Bunny girl because you prefer to settle things peacefully and would rather not fight if you didn't have to. But people like me and Salamander can't help but fight stronger opponents and see how we stack up to them." replied Gajeel as he continued to watch the fight.

"And is there anything wrong with that Gajeel?" asked Lucy while glaring at him.

"Nope, actually it's great that you are the majority otherwise who knows how bad the world would be if there was only people like me who enjoyed fighting almost more than anything else." replied Gajeel.

"Good." stated Lucy as she turned back to the fight that now stopped giving both fighters a little breather.

"Man why the hell do I keep forgetting to switch into my training gear before I do things like this." stated Natsu as he looked at his outfit that had a few rips and tears scattered about but otherwise he looked fine except for a few bruises that he got from Laxus.

"That's your first comment when we take a break?" asked Laxus who looked winded and over all looked way worse than Natsu.

"Do you have any idea how much one of these costs?" asked Natsu as he glared at Laxus.

"Considering that you have your own clothing line I can only assume that you can get them for free now." stated Laxus who was completely fine with having a conversation since that would allow him to catch his breath and maybe come up with a new idea of how to battle Natsu. But the only one that he could think of right now was having a long range battle with him but that was completely ruined when Natsu showed that he could actually move faster than him.

"Oh yea I completely forgot about that, HAHAHAHA." replied Natsu and then chuckling to himself.

"I have to admit Natsu you have sure been manhandling me in this fight." stated Laxus.

"It's about time Laxus, you have always been someone that I looked up to as someone to eventually surpass. And it would appear that I might have finally accomplished that little goal of mine." replied Natsu with a confident grin.

"Let's not get ahead of yourself just yet Natsu." argued Laxus with his own grin.

"Why not when as you just said I have been manhandling you?" asked Natsu.

"That's true but let's see how well you fare without either of us using our body spells." suggested Laxus hoping that Natsu would agree otherwise it was definitely Natsu's win.

"Does that include me changing my body into fire to dodge your attacks?" asked Natsu who loved to make the fights harder for himself.

"Sure why not." stated Laxus with a smirk.

"Alright Laxus you got a deal because I am interested in seeing what your plan is here." replied Natsu as he deactivated his **LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON GOD'S MODE**.

"I still can't believe that you've had that active this whole time." stated Laxus in disbelief.

"Like I told you before Laxus it's amazing what some intense training can do, and it could also be because of me coming of age as well. And just so you know I could have kept that going probably for another full hour while battling you." stated Natsu with a grin as he watched Laxus's mouth drop open.

"You have to be kidding." stated Laxus.

"Nope, **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"** shouted Natsu as he unleashed a huge roar on the unaware Laxus who luckily was still able to roll out of the way.

"That was a little rude Natsu, when we were having a nice conversation." stated Laxus with a big grin.

"This is a fight Laxus and you should pay attention a little more." said Natsu with a grin as he continued to do some weird motions with his hands and arms. That Laxus finally noticed as he also felt some intense heat coming from above him that he could only assume was another new attack from Natsu that he didn't see coming fast enough.

Once again the people watching were amazed at seeing what Natsu was capable of doing. They all just watched as Natsu unleashed a roar at Laxus who dodged it but didn't notice that Natsu redirected it up into the air before it ran into the protective runes and then brought it back down. This resulted in Laxus taking a direct hit that he didn't see coming, and they all watched while holding their breaths wondering if Laxus was going to be able to continue the fight.

"Shit that hurt like hell Natsu." said Laxus who was missing most of his cloths now except for his pants.

"Well this is a fight Laxus and I know that you can handle what I am dishing out." stated Natsu with a big grin.

"That I can Natsu but I think I am going to give this one to you before I end up in the infirmary." replied Laxus which was by far the most shocking thing to happen all day since Laxus had never admitted to anyone that they were stronger except for Makarov and Gildarts. And it would appear that Natsu might have joined that very small list.

"Damn Laxus I can honestly say that I didn't see this one coming." stated Natsu with a smile on his face.

"Why postpone the inevitable since we both know that you were going to win. Even though it was because of me underestimating you once again." replied Laxus with a big smile.

"HAHAHA of course you would still not be able to admit that I am now stronger than you." said Natsu while laughing.

"Why would I say something that isn't true Natsu and our next battle will end with you admitting defeat." stated Laxus while still smiling.

"Did that really just happen?" asked Lucy.

"That it did." said Erza.

"I still can't believe that Laxus just surrendered in front of the whole guild to Natsu of all people." stated Grey in disbelief.

"Natsu seems to have the ability of making the impossible turn into reality." replied Mira with a big grin.

"Alright who's next, and I would prefer it to be someone who isn't from Fairy Tail if there are anyone wanting to that is?" asked Natsu with a big grin on his face as he looked at the crowd that were still in awe of what they just witnessed. But it looked like no one was going to take up his offer after seeing the previous battle.

"Oh and don't worry guys, I am actually really good at matching my opponent's level of power. Of course I won't be throwing the battle, but I won't be doing what I just did to Laxus to anyone else unless that's what they wanted, like Laxus asked for." stated Natsu as he gave Laxus a big grin that irked the man.

"Shut up Natsu, like I already told you next time is going to be different." stated Laxus as Wendy was healing him.

"Darn right it will be Laxus because next time you are actually going to go all out from the beginning rather than when you were already losing." stated Natsu still grinning at him.

"Yep and I will be happy to wipe that smug grin off of your face." replied Laxus.

"So this is probably one of your last chances to fight the Salamander because this is not something that I offer to many people." stated Natsu as he looked at a few of the people that were not members of Fairy Tail and could see that most of them were a little afraid to take up his offer after the last battle.

"Alright I guess that means the next member of Fairy Tail step forward." stated Natsu as Erza was about to get up but was stopped by Savage clearing her throat and getting Natsu's attention.

"Is it okay if I fight you Salamander?" asked Savage with a smug grin.

"Definitely, but please just call me Natsu." replied Natsu as he grinned back at her as she jumped into the arena.

"I would like to have a sword duel with you like Happy did with the same rules." stated Savage with a confident smirk as all of the spectators were wondering who would want to fight Natsu after witnessing what he just did.

"Okay, but may I ask what I should call you since you already know me." asked Natsu with a smirk on his face as he got out the same sword as before but this time started to do some really showy things with it that were not practical in an actual fight.

"You can call me Savage and I am ready whenever you are. Or do you want me to join in on your fancy display of how quick your hands are?" asked Savage as she got into a quick draw position.

"HAHAHA I can already tell that I am going to like you Savage and I am more ready than you could possibly believe." said Natsu with a grin still on his face as he stopped showing off and got into a proper stance.

"When did Natsu get so good with a sword?" asked Lucy.

"I think what he said to Happy earlier was true and he might have always been good but just preferred to use his fists instead. And like he said before it is incredibly hard taking on someone with a weapon when you aren't armed at all like he always was, so he definitely knows probably more than most about dealing with weapons." stated Erza who now really wanted to fight Natsu.

"Why wouldn't he ever use a weapon if he was this good?" asked Grey who was just as shocked as Lucy.

"Probably because he likes to challenge himself whenever he can." replied Levy.

"Salamander also would most likely prefer to show off what Igneel taught him, which is probably the main reason he never used a weapon before." stated Gajeel with a slight frown.

"Then why is he using one now?" asked Lucy.

"Because he can't show off to Igneel anymore." stated Mira also having a frown.

"Natsu can now also see how much easier it is to deal with an armed opponent while he's also armed. So it makes sense that he would start using one if it prevents him from getting hurt." reasoned Erza who also felt a little bad for Natsu about losing Igneel the way he did.

"Why hasn't either of them done anything yet?" asked Lucy.

"They are just feeling each other out and waiting for the other to make the first move." answered Erza just as both of the fighters took off at each other and got into a sword lock in the middle of the arena.

"Why can't I read your thoughts?" hissed Savage quietly.

"That's great, I really didn't know if it would work." Natsu whispered back before they then separated from each other and both of them started to walk in a circle while staring at the other. This continued for another minute until they launched at each other again but rather than locking swords this time they were both going for the other while also keeping their own guard up.

And they continued this while increasing their speed and ferociousness of their attacks. This of course surprised the audience once again because Natsu was now showcasing that he was actually even more skilled with a sword than he let on with his fight with Happy. But what shocked everyone the most was that this stranger was actually keeping up with Natsu and looked like she might actually be winning.

Only those with the keenest of eyes could in fact see that Natsu was most definitely on the losing side. But somehow he still had a smile on his face while Savage kept giving him more cuts. They then both backed off of from each other with grins on their faces that for some reason didn't feel right for two people that just met and are having a duel.

"Damn Savage you got me pretty good there." stated Natsu as he smiled and looked at all of the cuts on him and then did a quick burst of white fire all around himself and the wounds were all gone in mere seconds.

"Hey we agreed to no magic." stated Savage as she glared at Natsu.

"Coming from the person that was constantly using hers during the fight and I haven't used any magic against you Savage. And we didn't really establish the rules that clearly when we started this now did we." stated Natsu as he grinned at her.

"Savage was using her magic, but I never saw her re-equip anything." stated Lucy.

"It would appear that Natsu saw something that we didn't and doesn't it seem strange how those two are acting with each other." said Erza as she continued to watch them.

"I noticed that as well, do you think they have a thing?" asked Levy with a smirk as Mira's Magic flared up as soon Levy said that last part.

"Natsu definitely doesn't have any sort of romantic feelings for her." said Mira still having her magic run wild and then noticed Natsu looking right at her with a loving smile and gave her a quick wink that instantly calmed her down.

"Of course not since you two are such a cute couple." said Levy who noticed Natsu giving Mira that smile and wink along with everyone else.

"We're not Levy, how many times do I have to tell you that?" asked Mira with a smile now on her face.

"Until you two stop denying it and become an official couple." answered Levy while Gajeel just chuckled at Levy talking to Mira that way.

"It looks like they are about to go at it again." stated Mira glad that the fight was resuming.

"Don't worry Mira we can bring this topic up after they finish." said Levy with a smirk.

"Let's see how you handle this Savage." said Natsu as he charged her and attacked her with a very easily blocked attack. But what Savage didn't expect was the force that Natsu put behind it which actually pushed her back three feet and before she could completely recover Natsu was already trying to land another devastating blow on her.

Natsu was relentless on this style of attacking since Savage already showed that she was indeed quicker than him in the beginning of their fight. But because of that skill he still couldn't land a good hit on her but it didn't matter since he already knew that her stamina was nowhere close to his and now that she couldn't read his thoughts this was soon going to be his win.

"Tell me how you are able to keep me out of your mind?" asked Savage quietly while she kept blocking Natsu's attacks and still not getting any good counters because of the power that Natsu was putting behind his attacks.

"With my fire magic of course Savage." replied Natsu with a huge smirk on his face.

"But how is that even possible?" asked Savage while deflecting one of his attacks and getting a good slash at his chest that Natsu was able to make a lot less severe by quickly rolling to the side.

"My fire can burn almost any other magic out there and it includes your telepathy Savage, right now it's very simple and I am confident that it wouldn't stop you if we weren't fighting. But it's enough while you are in a battle which is all I needed right now, but don't worry Savage I am confident that with time you'll never be able to look into my mind again unless I let you." said Natsu while attacking her with everything that he had.

"But that still doesn't really explain how you are doing it Natsu." stated Savage as she rolled out of the way of one of his swings and gave him a nice cut on his right calf.

"That's going to remain a secret Savage." said Natsu with a smirk before backing off and giving each other some space.

"How about we call this one a draw as well?" asked Natsu with a big smile.

"I am completely fine with having a draw with the famous Salamander." answered Savage as she smiled back at him.

"That was a great fight Savage, we'll have to do it again sometime." said Natsu giving her a grin.

"You can count on that Natsu." replied Savage as they both gave each other a bow and Natsu went to healing himself while Savage exited through the doors this time rather than just jumping out like she did when she jumped in.

"I really don't think this is the first time they've met." stated Grey who could have sworn he saw them having a conversation while fighting that they kept quiet for some reason.

"I agree with you on that Grey." said Erza while nodding.

"And why do you two think that?" asked Levy.

"Because they were talking with each other so that no one else could hear them over their own fight." explained Erza.

"So what if they know each other?" asked Mira.

"I want to know why both of them decided to keep that a secret from us." replied Erza with a determined look in her eyes.

"Now I am really interested as well, so why don't we confront Savage about this when she returns." suggested Lucy with a smile.

"You guys didn't learn a damn thing after everything that happened did you." stated Gajeel as he scoffed at them.

"And what do you mean by that Gajeel?" asked Erza as she glared at him.

"Well first off you guys pretty much ignored Salamander about things that I even noticed while he was still a member. But now that he is gone you guys feel that you have the right to pry into his private life as if he was still a member which I still don't think gives you the right to do that but whatever. Salamander is no longer a member so he doesn't have to tell any of us anything that he doesn't want to so why don't you guys respect his privacy. If you want you can ignore him like you did while he was still a member if that makes it easier for you guys." explained Gajeel with a little venom in his voice as everyone else was completely shocked at all of this coming from Gajeel. They all remained completely silent as they stared at Gajeel still in shock that he said all of that to them and couldn't help but realize that he might have been right about a few things.

"So how did I do?" asked Savage as she returned to the group with a smile on her face.

"You did great Savage and you almost had Natsu before he started to do such heavy swings." replied Mira with a smile once again on her face.

"Oh come on that's not true." said Savage who couldn't help but be proud when hearing that said about her.

"Mira's right Savage that was very impressive swordsmanship you have, we should spar sometime too." said Erza with a big smile on her face.

"Definitely Erza, first I got to battle the Salamander and now I have the chance to fight Titania one of my role models when I was younger." said Savage happily.

"Alright who's next?" asked Natsu loudly, which cut off the group's conversation.

"That would be me, uncle Natsu." said Asuka with a big grin as she then jumped down into the arena like Savage did causing all of the spectators to gasp because it was a fifteen foot drop. But just as she neared the ground Natsu appeared and caught her while having a big grin on his face.

"I would have been fine uncle Natsu." stated Asuka with a pout on her face.

"I know you would have Asuka, but if you did get accidentally hurt your mother would have killed me." stated Natsu still smiling at Asuka as he set her down.

"I wouldn't have let her do that to you." declared Asuka which caused Natsu to start laughing.

"Look Asuka you are already protecting me." stated Natsu with a huge smile.

"Of course uncle Natsu, because that is what family does for each other." stated Asuka proudly.

"That it does Asuka, so how do you want to do this competition?" asked Natsu.

"Not a competition uncle Natsu, we're going to fight." she declared with a determined look on her face. This of course shocked everyone watching since Asuka actually wanted to fight Natsu, but nothing could have prepared them for Natsu's response to Asuka's declaration.

"Alright Asuka." agreed Natsu with a big grin causing some people to actually faint while Asuka started to cheer and dance around in joy.

"But I am of course not going to hit you Asuka because that is something that I could never do. So how about this Asuka if I can touch you on your shoulder that gives me a point and you get a point if you can land any attack on me. The one with the most points after fifteen minutes wins how does that sound?" asked Natsu with a big grin.

"I guess that's okay but what if I knock you out?" asked Asuka with a big grin. Once again shocking all expect for her parents and Wendy that she was actually going to try and KO the Salamander.

"Then that is your win of course." replied Natsu with a big grin as they both got ready for it to begin. As soon as the bell rung Asuka drew her pistols and launched an Ice attack at Natsu which was something that he didn't see coming giving her two easy points.

And for the next fifteen minutes Natsu and Asuka had their little duel which at first almost everyone was concerned about. But that quickly changed as they saw that Natsu easily could hold back and actually put himself at her level which was pretty incredible. They also didn't know how talented little Asuka had become with all of that training she had been doing with Wendy, but after seeing her easily dodge Natsu's initial attempts at touching her shoulder they could already see that she was going to be a strong mage very soon. But what surprised everyone was some of the tactics that she used to get the drop on Natsu, such as pretending to be afraid so that he would let his guard down. Asuka even faked falling which of course caused Natsu to instantly forget that they were supposed to be fighting and was rewarded with a few shots at point blank range that were either ice or air. She even pulled the puppy dog eyes on Natsu a few times as he was about to score a point on her, but once again was then hit by another round of shots from SCORCH and SPARK.

"And the winner by more than twenty five points is Asuka." announced Makarov with a big smile.

"I beat you uncle Natsu!" cheered Asuka as she started to do a little jig.

"That you did Asuka but I need to remind you that some of your tactics won't work on other people." stated Natsu with a big smile.

"I know that uncle Natsu, Wendy keeps reminding me that you need to know your enemy if you want to defeat them. And to beat you I had to use some tactics that would never work on someone else." said Asuka with a grin that looked similar to the one that Natsu used to always do.

"Wendy what in the world have you been teaching her?" shouted a random guild member in complete shock at what he just saw and heard.

"How to be a strong woman of Fairy Tail of course." replied Wendy with a big grin.

"Well I have to say that you are doing a good job Wendy because I was honestly trying to not lose to her again." said Natsu with a grin that looked like it was never going to leave his face.

"Uncle Natsu do you think that you could come on a job with me sometime in the future?" asked Asuka afraid that Natsu might say no to her.

"You won't be able to stop me Asuka as long as your parents pick it out, and I am definitely going to check with them before we do it. Because I can already tell that you planned to lie to me so we could take a more interesting job." replied Natsu with a big grin as he watched Asuka get really excited and then start pouting at Natsu already ruining her plan.

"How did you already know that uncle Natsu?" asked Asuka.

"Because I was your age once Asuka and that is exactly what I would have done." answered Natsu as he put her on his shoulders and then jumped up to where Alzack and Bisca where sitting.

"Did you hear that mom and dad, uncle Natsu is going to do a job with me." cheered Asuka as Natsu put her down.

"That we did, but we also heard that you were going to try and lie to him as well." said Bisca with a grin that caused Asuka to stop cheering and start regretting that she said that she planned to do that.

"Well looks like I am done here." said Natsu still grinning as he jumped away from the family and landing in the arena.

"Okay who's up next and you don't have to be a part of Fairy Tail." stated Natsu who was shocked to see a lot of hands shoot into the air.

"HAHAHAHA it looks like we might have to do them in groups if we want to get this done anytime soon." said Natsu finding it funny that after his last battle people were all for challenging the Salamander when it was made perfectly clear that he could hold back.

And for the next few hours Natsu either fought or competed against anyone that wanted to. Some times with four or more at the same time, usually grouping them up by age or magic level which were usually pretty closely related to how old they were. And if they were really young he would use the same rules that he did with Asuka and would usually lose to them but just by a few points making it very intense towards the ends of the matches for the kids.

Now if they were other mages that were around Natsu's age but not at his level they would have an actual match with him holding back of course. But during it he would try and give them pointers and tips that would help them with later fights and at the end of them he would always compliment them on what they did right. He of course won every single one of these because in Natsu's eyes they could easily be at his level if they trained as much as he did so he wasn't going to let any of them win like he did with the kids.

But the last fight for Natsu that day was one of the most interesting since it was against Wendy. Who wanted to do a dragon slayer exclusive fight, meaning that they would only use dragon slayer moves and nothing else. And right away every member of Fairy Tail instantly noticed that Wendy's fighting still was completely different than her old one. It was now identical to Natsu's expect for instead of fire shooting out it was huge gusts of wind that actually matched Natsu's who was actually putting a lot behind his moves from what the more experienced members could sense. And once again Natsu called the fight a draw while everyone could see how proud he was of Wendy now becoming a very strong fighter after he left.

They then moved back into the guild hall where Natsu was instantly the center of attention and was constantly in a conversation with someone. And he was so busy with trying to spend time with everyone that wanted to talk with him that he barely got to spend time with the members that were his closest friends while he was a member.

"It just seems so weird seeing Natsu not starting a brawl but actually having civilized conversations with other people and not arguing at all." stated Erza with a slight frown.

"I know it kind of seems wrong." replied Lucy also having a small frown.

"What did you expect to happen after he left, did you think that he would stay the exact same?" asked Grey with Juvia sitting right next to him while holding hands.

"Honestly Grey, yes I did and I also thought that he would be back with us by now." responded Lucy still frowning.

"Well that doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon since he seems pretty happy with whatever he's doing right now." said Grey once again feeling responsible for this.

"I just wish that we knew what he was up to." stated Erza as she watched Natsu and Savage start talking with each other.

"Gajeel made a good point Erza, we shouldn't stick our noses into his business." said Grey with a serious expression.

"But I am just concerned about him Grey since Natsu thinks that whatever he's doing is so dangerous that even Fairy Tail couldn't handle it. Meaning that it has to be something that even scares him Grey which we both know is something that is almost impossible." said Erza as she looked at Grey with a concerned look.

"Juvia knows that Natsu can take care of himself Erza and he'll ask us if he ever does need any help because Fairy Tail is still his family even if he left." stated Juvia with a big smile.

"Juvia's right about that Erza, just look at him having so much fun just from being here again." said Mira as she handed them their drinks.

"But he isn't spending any time with us." stated Lucy with a frown.

"That's true Lucy but didn't you tell him that you would be happy if he at least came here, even if he didn't spend any time with you. Which he seems to be doing, and I don't think he's actually trying to avoid you guys he's just extremely busy with everyone else." said Mira with a smile.

"That's true Mira, but it's so hard seeing him having so much fun with everyone else. While also being afraid that if you go over there you might ruin it by just being there." said Lucy as she lowered her head.

"That must be pretty hard Lucy, but at least he's actually here while you guys are. So you're at least making some progress in the right direction." stated Mira with an encouraging smile.

"You're right Mira, I should be focusing on the good parts of this situation." said Lucy with a small smile.

"Those two definitely know each other." said Erza confidently as she continued to watch Natsu and Savage who were right now laughing together.

"Why are you so hung up on that Erza?" asked Grey.

"Because I think I saw that weird emblem that Savage had on her medallion on the sword Natsu was using today." answered Erza now getting the others attention.

"Really Erza, because didn't that have the Council's seal on it?" asked Lucy.

"I almost ninety percent positive that it was the same one." stated Erza.

"Why in the world would Natsu have something related to the Council?" asked Mira who knew nothing about this.

"I honestly have no idea but I am going to try and find out." stated Erza.

"He might have taken it off of some Council employee that he beat up." suggested Grey with a big grin.

"That does sound like something Natsu would do." agreed Lucy as a smile spread across her lips.

"But I have never seen that emblem before." stated Erza as she shook her head at the idea of Natsu getting it off of an employee that he beat up since Savage had a medallion of it as well.

"Could Natsu have joined the Council?" asked Juvia which instantly caused Grey and Lucy to start laughing at the thought of it. Until Erza nodded her head meaning that she thought that it could possibly be an explanation as to what he's doing with that sword.

"You can't be serious Erza, Natsu would never work for the Council after everything that they've done." stated Grey in disbelief.

"That was the old Council Grey, and the Chairman did go and see Natsu personally that one day." said Erza.

"That's true Erza but why haven't we heard anything about it then, because that is something that the Council would be proud to share with Fiore." pointed out Lucy.

"I was only saying that it was a possibility you two, because I also don't think Natsu would ever work for them." said Erza as she got up.

"What are you doing Erza?" asked Lucy.

"Going to ask him if I can look at his sword and then ask him where he got it." replied Erza as she continued on her path to Natsu.

"Shit, I hope she knows that this could cause him to leave." stated Grey as he shook his head.

"That's hilarious Natsu." said Savage as she giggled at his last comment.

"I thought so too, what's up Erza?" asked Natsu as he didn't even turn to look at her.

"I was wondering if I could look at the sword you were using today Natsu?" asked Erza not liking Natsu not even taking the time to look at her.

"Why would you want to look at a normal sword?" asked Natsu.

"Because I thought I saw something strange and wanted to get a closer look." replied Erza.

"I guess I don't see any harm in it." stated Natsu as he re-equipped his sword and held it over his shoulder so Erza could grab its handle.

"Thanks Natsu." said Erza as she grabbed it and instantly noticed that it didn't have the emblem at all like the one he used earlier today. Otherwise it was exactly the same as the other one that he used.

"This isn't the sword that you were using today Natsu." said Erza as she handed it back to him.

"Yes it is Erza." replied Natsu now actually turning to look at her.

"No it isn't Natsu. The one that you were using today hand a weird emblem in the middle of the guard." stated Erza as she stared straight into his eyes.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Erza because this is the sword that I was using today." said Natsu with a little smirk on his face.

"No it wasn't Natsu." said Erza as she got closer to him.

"Yes it was Erza." said Natsu losing his smirk.

"Natsu we both know that is wasn't because I am confident in what I saw." stated Erza as she glared at him.

"Are you saying that I am lying?" asked Natsu as he growled a little.

"Yes I am Natsu but I don't know why you are, I am also pretty sure that you two are lying about not knowing each other." said Erza as she pointed to him and Savage.

"First off I am confident that we all have secrets that we probably don't want being made public so I am also wondering why you even care Erza? And even if I am lying Erza, which I am not admitting to, why should I explain myself to you of all people?" asked Natsu in a deep voice as some of his magic power was leaking out of him as he glared back at Erza.

"Because I still care about you Natsu and I don't have any secrets." stated Erza giving off the impression that Natsu didn't hurt her by saying that to her when it actually hurt almost as much as when she learned that he didn't consider them family anymore.

"Funny that you now care about me after I left Fairy Tail, and what would you call not telling us about that happened to you at the Tower of Heaven Erza?" asked Natsu who everyone could tell didn't like this conversation and started to back away from the two in case it ended up in a fight.

"That's different because lives were at stake Natsu, and I cared about you while you were still with us." answered Erza who had already gone too far to back down now without getting her answers.

"You did at times Erza, while at other times you really couldn't have cared less what happened to me. And did you ever think that I might be also not telling you because lives are at stake, or is that something only you can do?" asked Natsu as the temperature in the guild started to rise.

"Of course not Natsu, but you don't seem to be acting like lives are in danger." stated Erza deciding to not continue to argue with Natsu about caring about him.

"And you did for all those years Erza? Guess what Erza, the answer to that is no. You decided to keep everyone at an arm's distance away from you because you didn't want to be betrayed by a close friend again. So you made sure that you didn't have close friends so it couldn't happen." said Natsu who obviously was now letting off a little anger right now.

"I had close friends Natsu." argued Erza because that was really the only thing that she could actually argue about since everything else was completely true.

"And that was only because of me forming Team Natsu, otherwise you would still be scaring everyone in the guild every time you came back to grab another job to do by yourself. Actually you would probably be dead right now if we didn't become friends Erza because if we hadn't, no one would have noticed you being kidnapped by your old friends until it was already too late. And Jellal would have already sacrificed you in an attempt to revive Zeref." replied Natsu as the rest of Fairy Tail had their mouths wide open at everything he had just said to Erza. Erza was also completely stunned by Natsu saying all of that and had absolutely nothing to say back to him.

"I am going to take your silence as you realizing that I am correct Erza, so don't come and accuse me of lying when you don't have any proof or a good reason to even think that way. When you did that to all of Fairy Tail for years and would have continued to do so if we didn't become friends and help you deal with your past." said Natsu as he then made his way to the exit but stopped as soon as he reached them.

"I am truly sorry for making a scene like that everyone, but I really hate it when hypocrites accuse me of doing something that they did. I am also sorry that I will be calling it quits for the rest of the day since I obviously need to cool off." said Natsu as he looked at everyone in the guild hall with a sad grin.

"Wait Natsu, what about tomorrow?" asked Mira with a small frown.

"I'll be there as soon as you break one of those lacrimas that I gave you, but I need to let off a little steam right now." said Natsu as he stepped outside and then launched a ball of fire off into the distance then disappeared without saying anything else. The guild remained quiet for a few minutes as most of the non-members quietly exited since Natsu was no longer there, which also included Savage who felt that she might have overstayed her welcome with how things turned out.

"You couldn't listen to my little advice could you Titania?" asked Gajeel with a slight glare.

"I just wanted to know why he was lying to us." said Erza quietly.

"And because of that you probably just lost all of what you just recently gained in your relationship with Salamander. All because he was friendly with some girl and used a different sword in his battles today, so was it worth it Titania?" asked Gajeel since everyone else was a little too afraid to say anything.

"No it wasn't." mumbled Erza with a visible frown.

"That's what I thought Titania and you are lucky that Salamander can't say no to his women otherwise I would guess you wouldn't see him until who knows when, after you felt the need to stick your nose into his business where it definitely didn't belong after what he's already gone through." said Gajeel as he got up and then left the guild with Levy following right behind him.

"I didn't mean for it to go this way, I just wanted to know what he was up to so I could help him." said Erza quietly as a few more members started to leave without saying anything.

"It really doesn't surprise me that you didn't see this outcome Erza, even though everyone else did because you for some reason don't realize that a direct confrontation isn't always the best route. I mean how did you expect it to go when you call him a liar in front of the whole guild while other people are visiting as well?" asked Wendy with a pissed off expression on her face.

"That he would tell me what was going on like he used to." mumbled Erza.

"Well that Natsu is long gone Erza and the ones responsible for that are Team Natsu, but I need to go before Master gets angry at me for telling the truth again." stated Wendy as she, Carla and Happy left together.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this." said Erza sadly as more members left without saying anything.

"I know Erza, and I also know that you were just concerned about Natsu." said Makarov with a frown on his face because there was nothing he could do but sit back and watch all of that unfold before him.

"Why is this so hard Master?" asked Erza as she looked at him with tear filled eyes.

"Because gaining back the trust you've lost is one of the hardest things to do in life Erza. It takes a lot of time and patience, which you'll have to accept if you ever hope to mend things with Natsu after today." replied Makarov still frowning.

"I don't know if he'll even give me a chance after today." stated Erza as she looked away.

"I am confident that Natsu will Erza because he'll eventually realize that you only did that because you were concerned about him. But you have to try and not rush this Erza because it takes time to heal the wounds that Natsu is carrying around with him." said Makarov hoping that it would encourage Erza.

"I hope you are right Master." said Erza as she slowly walked out of the guild with her head down.

"Well this is not how I wanted the day to end." said Mira with a frown as her and Makarov were the only ones at the guild now and the sun was still up which is almost unheard of for Fairy Tail to be this empty.

"I know Mira and it started out so promising." relied Makarov as he shook his head.

"And all of this happened over a stupid sword." said Mira as she decided that she would head home since there was no reason for her to stay there.

"I wouldn't say it's a stupid sword since it did have the crest of the Council on it." thought Makarov as he sat alone in the empty guild hall wondering what Natsu was doing with such a weapon.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I didn't even get to the photoshoot at all like I said that I might do in the last chapter. So once again I am wondering if I should even do it, if I did it would probably be Natsu talking with the women of Fairy Tail so if that's what you want please let me know. So as always feel free to leave me a review and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	29. Disturbing Information

Chapter 29: Disturbing Information

 **Sorcerer's Weekly main office in Crocus:**

"Do you think he's actually going to show?" asked Lucy with a frown as she and all of the other women of Fairy where in the main building of Sorcerers Weekly.

"Of course he is Lucy, because he told me he would." said Mira as she destroyed the Lacrima resulting in a burst of flames and a half naked Natsu to appear. He was only in his pants and was completely covered in sweat that glistened on his well-toned chiseled chest that they all couldn't help but stare at.

"As you can see I was still letting off a little steam." stated Natsu with a chuckle as he ran a hand through his hair as all of the women continued to stare at him.

"Uncle Natsu!" cheered Asuka as she jumped at him since she along with Wendy weren't affected by him looking this way.

"Hello there Asuka, I would hug you but then you'd get covered in my sweat and we wouldn't want that." said Natsu as he held her in an arm's length away from himself.

"I don't care if I get a little dirty." replied Asuka with a big smile that caused Natsu to start laughing.

"Of course you don't but I bet that your mother does, so did you decided to come and watch us Asuka? Because just so you know this isn't going to be that exciting despite whatever aunt Mira might have told you." said Natsu as he set her down.

"Nope uncle Natsu because I am going to participate because I am a woman of Fairy Tail too." stated Asuka as she glared at Natsu for thinking that she wasn't going to be in this.

"Sorry Asuka, of course you are and who wouldn't want to see the girl that beat Salamander all by herself." replied Natsu with his usual grin.

"Well that is very interesting news to randomly just learn of, since Salamander is supposed to be unbeatable." stated Jason with a huge smile on his face as he made his way over to Natsu.

"I was the first one to beat uncle Natsu yesterday and also the only one to do it by themselves." said Asuka proudly, causing Jason to become really intrigued about what else the little girl could tell him.

"I would love to hear more about this." stated Jason.

"Good to see you again Jason, and you are not going to put anything that she says in your magazine until you clear it with her mother." said Natsu in a deep tone with a glare that made Jason know that this was one of those times that he definitely needed to listen to his instincts. Which were telling him to not mess with Natsu at all about this unless he wanted to be in the hospital for a few months.

"Good to see you as well Natsu and you know that I wouldn't even dream of doing something like that without getting permission from her parents and you." replied Jason with a slightly nervous tone.

"I do Jason, which is why you're still breathing without the assistance of a machine." said Natsu as he continued to glare at Jason who was now frozen where he stood.

"Natsu look at what you just did to poor Jason, and just to have a little fun with him." said Mira as she hit Natsu playfully on the shoulder.

"Uncle Natsu can really scare people when he wants too." said Asuka with a big smile.

"Sorry Jason about that, I just wanted to see if I could get you to believe that I was threatening you like that. And it would appear that I still can, oh and this was pay back for making me into some sort of celebrity with those well writen articles of yours." said Natsu as he patted Jason's back while grinning at the man.

"You really had me going there Natsu, and hey you were the one that came to me with all of those great stories that I barely had to do anything with." replied Jason now having a grin of his own, knowing that Natsu was just messing around with him about putting him into a hospital if he was like most journalists.

"Yea I guess that once again it was mainly my own fault." said Natsu as he ran another hand through his hair.

"Well if it isn't the famous Salamander, my new favorite male model that the citizens can't get enough of. Who thanks to him, I now have a great career as a photographer and am now being called to do all sorts of other photoshoots." said Jeremy as he entered the room in his usual blue jeans and designer shirt with a white leather jacket on top.

"Well I would say that you are now finally getting what you deserve Jeremey for all of your hard work. And would you please stop calling me a male model, I am already getting enough people teasing me about all of this." said Natsu causing a lot of people there to wonder who in the world would make fun of Natsu because of that. Also who was he with long enough for them to even think about making fun of him for modeling because even yesterday no one at Fairy Tail did anything like that.

"Sorry Natsu but I can't do that since you are my best model, sorry Mira. Oh and you should go clean yourself up in your dressing room Natsu, it's the same one as the last two times you were here." said Jeremy taking notice that Natsu was far from being ready to start taking pictures of.

"I think that might be a good idea Jeremy, so I guess I will see all of you after I get cleaned up." said Natsu as he headed for his dressing room.

"And none taken Jeremy, since Natsu is one of the biggest names in the Fiore right now." replied Mira.

"That he is Mira, and is also why he's going to take number one as most eligible bachelor this year." said Jason with a smirk as he watched Mira process all of this.

"Good for him." Mira said through clenched teeth knowing that this was going to give Natsu more attention than he already had. And unfortunately it was mainly going to be from the female populace of Fiore.

"Wow that's pretty impressive since it's not all about their looks for someone to get that title." said Cana with a sly grin.

"No it's not Cana, they put in a lot of factors such as age, appearance, power, financials, and over all how they are seen by the public. Which right now Natsu is seen as a hero who's willing to do anything to protect what he cares about." stated Jason still watching Mira.

"And right now Natsu is killing it in all of others too." said Jeremy with a grin.

"Even the financial once since he's an independent mage?" asked Lucy who decided that she might as well join the conversation.

"Yep, thanks to the Salamander Collection he is pretty much set for a really long time. Also here is rumor that he actually has some other job that he's keeping a secret from everyone and is supposed to pay really well." explained Jason.

"What's this job that he's supposed to have?" asked Bisca who was now holding Asuka in her arms.

"My contact said that he can't give me any details until the Grand Magic Games have started." replied Jason with a slight frown that was gone in a second.

"Darn I was wondering if it had anything to do with the Council." stated Erza.

"Erza please don't bring that up again." said Mira as she glared at her.

"Sorry Mira and I don't plan to talk to Natsu about it again except when I apologize to him and give his sword back to him." said Erza with a frown.

"Why would you give it back to him?" asked Lucy.

"Because it's his Lucy and he can obviously use it after what we all saw yesterday." explained Erza.

"I really need to figure out what all happened yesterday." stated Jason with a grin.

"And I would be more than happy to tell you that if you got me some really good booze." said Cana who was sprawled out on a sofa with a smirk on her lips.

"We got ourselves a deal Cana, hey you go and get the most expensive booze you can find and fast." said Jason as he grabbed an intern and gave him a wad of jewels and a voucher from the Sorcerer's Weekly.

"Cana." said Mira as she glared at her.

"What Mira, I am only going to be telling him what I saw yesterday. And I mean everything, unless you want to out bid him to keep me quiet. Let's say free booze at the guild for two months." said Cana smugly.

"Or how about I just cut you off for that long." replied Mira hoping that it would scare Cana into remaining quiet.

"Nope, I don't respond well to threats Mira. They only make me want to do it more." stated Cana.

"Are you sure about that Cana?" asked Natsu as he as now standing to the right of her, causing Cana to let out a squeak and moving to the other side of the sofa. Of course this instantly caused Natsu to break into laughter.

"Natsu you jerk, you almost made my heart explode!" shouted Cana who was now up in his face.

"HAHAHAHA sorry Cana, will this make it up to you?" asked Natsu as he re-equipped another bottle of Vodka just like the last two.

"You're the best Natsu, and of course this will make it up to me. But I can think of a few other ways that you could also make it up to me." said Cana as she hugged Natsu and whispered that last part seductively in his ear but still loud enough for Mira to hear.

"Natsu you're not supposed to give her more booze when she's going to tell Jason all about yesterday." stated Mira as she glared at Cana, wanting to show her that Natsu was hers and no one else's.

"Sorry Mira, but why would I care about that getting out? Most of the things I do now are getting into the magazines even if I think they are insignificant." stated Natsu as he made his way over to her and brought her into a hug.

"I don't know Natsu, probably because Cana made it sound like she was going to say things about us." replied Mira quietly.

"And you didn't want her doing that Mira?" asked Natsu.

"No since you seem to want to try and keep personal things like that secret." answered Mira as she rested her head on his chest. And simply enjoyed being like this with him since this happened rarely for her.

"You know why I am trying to do that Mira, but we can't stop everything from eventually getting out since there is always someone willing to tell what they saw. And since I am apparently really exciting to talk about it's going to keep happening about me and sometimes the things are going to be complete lies as well." said Natsu as he continued to hold her.

"I know that Natsu, I just didn't want things to possibly get worse because of something like that." stated Mira as she looked up at him.

"Mira, I wouldn't let that happen especially if it concerns you. And I am pretty sure that what we're doing now is more than Cana could have told them about yesterday." said Natsu with a small smile. As Mira realized that Jason and Jeremy were right next to them and probably heard everything.

"You two saw and heard nothing, do I make myself clear?" asked Mira as she glared at them and let her magic flare up.

"Yes Mira." both of the men replied while giving her a salute with Cana easily being heard in the background laughing her ass off.

"Well let's get this photoshoot started." declared Mira with her usual smile as she separated from Natsu and pretty much started to tell everyone what they needed to do.

And for the next eight hours Natsu and the women of Fairy Tail had their photoshoot. This one went way quicker than the other two photoshoots that Natsu did with other guilds, but that was probably all because of Mira. She had everything already planned out and into position before Natsu could even think about what he was supposed to do or wear. He attributed Mira being this good because of her experience she obtained by being a model for years and Natsu also thought that she had probably been working with Sorcerer's Weekly on this for at least the past month since they had sets already made for each women of Fairy Tail with the outfits that he and said women would be wearing.

They were all very different and depended on who was the woman that Natsu was going to be with. For Levy Natsu was dressed up in what he thought was a nerdy outfit while it looked like they might be in a library, while Levy was wearing an outfit that made her look beautiful in Natsu's opinion. Which Natsu knew that Gajeel wasn't going to be a fan of because all of Fiore was now going to realize that. For his photos with Cana he was dressed as a sexy bartender and she looked to be that of an heiress because of how fancy her dress looked. And of course their setting was that of an elegant night club where Natsu was apparently supposed to be an employee.

With Bisca they were of course dressed up as if it was a western and having a dual, as for Evergreen he was dressed up as if he was one of her statues coming to life. Natsu really didn't understand that one at all but went with it because apparently it was what Evergreen wanted and he could tell that she was happy doing it with him. Through most of these Natsu was always making it fun and talking about all sorts of things with the woman that he was posing with, but that of course wasn't the case when he did his photos with Erza and Lucy. During theirs Natsu only spoke when he had to which made it pretty awkward for everyone else that was there because they could see how much this simple action hurt Lucy and Erza.

Lucy's photoshoot was of them in the celestial spirit realm with Natsu was supposed to be her prince charming. Saving her like he had done countless number of times in their past together, which made it worse for Lucy because it only reminded her of what she ruined. But she wasn't going to let that stop her from showing Natsu that she could live up to her end of the deal that she made with him a month ago. That she would be fine as long as he didn't take off because of her just being there. Now Erza's photo shoot was of them being two knights in a heated dual with a castle in the background. Erza wasn't a fan of it because all she could think of while doing it was that if she didn't fix things between the two of them then it might end with them being in a duel together. But unlike all the times that they did it before, the next one might be fought as actual enemies, which is something Erza couldn't let happen. That is why once they were done Erza decided to have a few words with Natsu before he continued to the next girl that he would have to take photos with.

"Natsu could we please talk?" asked Erza with her head down.

"Erza I am needed over there as soon as possible." replied Natsu as he pointed to the next set for him and Wendy that looked to be dragon themed.

"This will only take a second Natsu." said Erza still not looking at him.

"Okay Erza, so what is it?" asked Natsu as he looked at her.

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday and tell you that I only did that because I am still concerned about you Natsu. Which I know you don't believe but it's true and I will always be worried about you Natsu and I just want to help. And I want to give you TALON back because you obviously can use it and I am not worthy to have such a blade." said Erza as she held Talon out to him with it resting on her open palms.

"Erza it's okay and I know that you still do. Just like I will always be worried about you and everyone else at Fairy Tail and will hopefully be there if anything really bad happens. And if I can't be there then hopefully TALON will be enough to make up for that. Also you are more than worthy to have TALON Erza, because you are by far one of the best swordsmen out there who is also willing to do anything to protect what's important to her." stated Natsu with a sad smile.

"That isn't true Natsu because look at what happened to us and that was extremely important to me." replied Erza as she still held out the sword for him.

"It was the same for me Erza, and it is also just like me with everyone that I have lost over the years. You didn't realize how important it truly was until it was gone, but that's what makes us both human Erza. We make mistakes and are going to keep making them, but we both are able to get back up and try to not make anymore. And you are lucky that you and I can still fix all of this later on unlike me and those that I have lost." replied Natsu with his head down.

"You were looking for Igneel your whole life Natsu and there was nothing you could have done at the end there." stated Erza, shocked that Natsu was talking to her about this at all.

"You and I both know that what you just said isn't true Erza. I could have spent more time looking for him and becoming stronger along the way, but instead I was screwing around all of the time like you guys pointed out when I didn't get promoted. And because of that Erza I couldn't do anything but watch him die right in front of me when he needed me to help him for the first time in his life. But instead of being someone like you I chose to be an idiot trying to have as much fun as possible which is now obviously my biggest mistake which I have paid for dearly." said Natsu as he looked into Erza's eyes allowing her to see all the pain that he had been hiding from everyone else.

"Natsu, that isn't…" started Erza.

"Sorry Erza but there is nothing that you can say to me that will make me think otherwise. So just try to not make the same mistake as me and I'll take TALON back because I can already see that you aren't going to take no for an answer on this one." said Natsu as he grabbed Talon and was surprised when Erza held onto it as well.

"Can you promise to try and still be there when Fairy Tail needs you like you've always been?" asked Erza with teary eyes.

"Of course I'll try Erza, but I really need to get going to my next photoshoot." said Natsu as Erza released the sword and he then walked over to the set that Wendy was at.

"Natsu I am so sorry. I had no idea that you were thinking those things. But you need to know that you brought so much joy to everyone else because of doing stuff like that and Igneel would have been proud of that. I just wish that I would have realized all of this sooner before we made such a huge mistake." said Erza to herself as she wiped away a few tears that escaped her eyes. Not knowing that a certain barmaid heard all of this and was glad to see that Natsu still cared for Erza enough to let her know all of this, but also didn't like the fact that Natsu was blaming himself for things that he couldn't have possibly prevented or even predicted.

Natsu's photo shot for Wendy's was one of his favorite because they wanted them to both be in their usual outfits and show casing their magic. Which both of them really enjoyed doing because they were both connected by their dragons and trying to find them which helped lead to them seeing each other as brother and sister because they both had to deal with being abandoned, and then going through it all over again after they just finally reunited with them. So they casually chatted with each other during it talking about all sorts of things and what they even planned to do in the near future, but they mainly just enjoyed being with each other.

The one after Wendy's was Mira's and Natsu was kind of surprised by what their background was going to be and the outfit that he was given. He was now wearing a tattered outfit of what he usually would be wearing while they also applied fake wounds all over him, which kind of made sense since the back ground was that of a completely destroyed city that was still on fire.

"Are you guys sure this is what you want, because I am trying really hard to not be associated with things like this anymore." said Natsu pointing to the things on fire behind him.

"Natsu don't worry, you'll still be seen as a hero. This is just what Mira wanted to have since it goes along with what she's wearing. Also this makes you look like you two were the only survivors." stated Jeremy with a sly grin.

"Is she wearing tattered clothes as well?" asked Natsu sarcastically while rolling his eyes.

"Nope, something that all of Fiore has been dying to see for a long time now." replied Jeremy.

"You better not be talking about what I think you are Jeremy, otherwise I am going to tear this whole place apart." growled Natsu.

"Now that's the overprotective dragon I grew up with." said Mira as she came out of the dressing room that all of the girls were using. She was once again in her Dragon Soul and looked like she had just come out of a major fight as well, which Natsu wasn't a fan of but couldn't help but stare at her as she sauntered over to him with a sly grin.

"Come on my brave dragon, we've got some photos to take. Or are you planning to just stare at me like that for the rest of the day?" asked Mira as she whispered into his ear.

"I would much rather do more than just look." growled Natsu right back to her so only she could hear him, which caused Mira to feel a tingle go up her spine as she looked at Natsu as he continued to stare right back at her. Natsu could barely keep his eyes off of her for more than a split second.

"Come on you two we only have two more sessions after this one." said Jeremy with a grin since he wasn't blind and could easily see that there was definitely something going on between the two of them.

"Sorry Jeremy, let's get this over with Natsu so we can possible do what you were talking about." said Mira as she strutted away from Natsu while giving him a quick wink.

"Why did she have to be using that, couldn't we have just done something else?" asked Natsu to himself as he followed Mira to the set and started to do as instructed for next hour. Because according to Jeremy and Jason this is what the people wanted to see and for a few of them Mira was actually in her human form which was her wearing tattered clothes just like Natsu joked about. But she somehow still made them look great, which Natsu was now certain Mira could do with anything.

"Well I have to go get changed now." said Mira with a big grin as she walked away from Natsu.

"Why Mira, you already look great." stated Natsu as a few people where cleaning off the fake wounds as he stood there.

"Thanks Natsu, but I am barely wearing anything." stated Mira as she turned to look back at Natsu whose only response was having a smirk spread across his lips.

"Oh I see, well I guess I might have to keep these for later then." said Mira quietly to herself, knowing that Natsu could still hear her which was proven by him starting to chuckle to himself.

"So who's the next one?" asked Natsu as he was going through a list in his brain trying to figure out who was left.

"That would be me uncle Natsu!" cheered Asuka who was now in a little suit that Natsu thought she looked adorable in.

"I was wondering when we were going to do ours Asuka, but I guess they were just saving the best for last." said Natsu as he smiled down at her.

"Of course they did uncle Natsu, but it's probably because they decided to change everything at the last minute." said Asuka as she smiled back at him.

"Oh and what were we going to be doing before Asuka?" asked Natsu as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"I was going to be with you and my mom in the western one. But after talking with him we decided that I needed my own personal shoot with you uncle Natsu." answered Asuka as she pointed at Jason who had a big smile on his face as Natsu looked at him.

"So what are we going to be doing now Asuka?" asked Natsu after he gave Jason a quick glare that the man just ignored.

"A mafia one, whatever that means. But they told me that I get to be the boss since I beat you yesterday." explained Asuka cheerfully as Natsu slipped into his usual outfit like he was instructed to.

"HAHAHA that explains that adorable suit that you're wearing." chuckled Natsu as he draped his coat over his shoulders.

"It's not adorable uncle Natsu, it's intimidating because that is what the boss of a mafia is." stated Asuka as she gave Natsu a cute glare.

"Sorry boss, it'll never happen again." said Natsu as he scooped her up, causing Asuka to giggle as Natsu put her on just his right shoulder.

"Now that's more like it." said Asuka trying to not giggle at Natsu being all serious about this.

"Boss let me escort you to your next meeting." said Natsu as he made his way to the set that looked like a really nice office.

And for the next few minutes Natsu and Asuka did a few shots of them together with Natsu clearly looking as if he was her personal bodyguard. And everyone was surprised that the two of them took it very serious with Asuka looking like she might possibly be the cutest Don the world has ever seen with her faithful bodyguard Natsu who was ready to stop anything from harming her. But as soon as Jeremy said that they were done the two of them instantly burst into laughter together and couldn't stop for the next two minutes.

"Alright everyone, the last one is a group picture." stated Jeremy as he directed Natsu and Asuka to where everyone else was. It was a set that made it look like they were out in front of the Fairy Tail guild hall.

"So what do you want to do for this one?" asked Jason after they got everyone into place with Natsu in the middle with Mira on his right side Wendy on his left side and Asuka right in front of him still wearing her new suit.

"I am confident that we all know what we should do for this." said Natsu with his usual grin as all of the members of Fairy Tail now had huge smiles on their faces.

"Alright, then I will start taking photos as soon as you're already." stated Jeremy as he then watched all of them instantly raise their right arm into the air and had their thumb pointing to the right with their pointer finger extended towards the sky. The signal that they always did at their Fantasia parade that meant a whole lot more to all of the members of Fairy Tail than just a simple gesture.

Jeremy instantly started to take pictures knowing right away that this was definitely going to be some of the best shots that he got all day. Jason could tell just from the pure happiness that you could see in all of their faces as they did this together, showing that even though Natsu might no longer be an actual member of Fairy Tail. He would always be a member of their family, which was something that anyone could see by looking at them while they did this, but that all of a sudden changed as Natsu lost his smile and it turned to one of concern.

"Get down!" shouted Natsu as he grabbed Asuka and pushed Wendy back as he passed Asuka to a startled Mira as he then covered the two of them with his own body as a loud shot could be heard. As everyone else then ducked for cover or simple fell to the floor wondering if more were going to be coming.

"Is everybody alright?" asked Erza as she looked at all of them and getting nods of agreement.

"What was that?" asked Lucy.

"Special magical sniper that was fired from the build across from us." stated Natsu still holding onto Mira and Asuka.

"Bisca could you take them out for us?" asked Erza which Bisca gave a quick nod and was going to go do that until Natsu spoke again.

"You don't want to go to the roof since there are already four guys up there with more coming. Your best bet would be firing back through the holes that he made through the wall since you have another minute until he can shoot again." stated Natsu as he pointed to a big hole in the right wall, which Bisca quickly went to not doubting Natsu for a second since he was already protecting her daughter who might have gotten hurt if it wasn't for him protecting her that quickly.

"Natsu how do you know all of this?" asked Erza finding all of this shocking since she couldn't detect any of them.

"Doesn't matter right now Erza, Jason you need to evacuate the building right now otherwise others are going to get hurt." he said in a tone that allowed no room for argument. Causing Jason to book it to the fire alarm and pull it causing the alarm to go off just as Bisca took her shot, easily knocking the man out and then did another to ruin his gun.

"Natsu I think you can let go of us." stated Mira as he finally let go of them.

"What's going on Natsu-nii?" asked Wendy as she looked up at him.

"It would seem that a few dark guilds are finally actually trying to take me down. And decided to do it when they knew where I was going to be." said Natsu with a growl.

"Uncle Natsu why is your suit turning red?" asked Asuka as she pointed to Natsu's right side that was now having a red circle slowly getting bigger. This caused all of them to gasp at the realization that Natsu just took a bullet in order to protect all of them from getting hurt.

"It's nothing Asuka." said Natsu as he crouched down in front of her.

"Natsu getting shot isn't nothing." shouted Mira not liking Natsu acting like he was fine with this.

"Yes it is Mira when the alternative was one of you guys getting shot. But don't worry Asuka everyone here is going to be alright while your uncle Natsu goes and teaches these bad guys how wrong they were to try and do this when you guys could have been hurt." stated Natsu as he gave her a quick hug and then put some of his white flames to his wound.

"Natsu we can help." stated Erza as everyone else nodded their heads as the alarms continued to go off.

"I was planning on it since there is about fifty of them storming the place right now and they are nothing to look down on. So I'll leave the lower levels to you guys while I go deal with the ones coming from above." said Natsu as he then took off for the stairs.

"Natsu we're coming too!" shouted Wendy as she and the two Exceeds followed after him before anyone could stop them.

"What is he talking about?" asked Jeremy who had never been in anything like this before in his life.

"Dark mages are attacking since this was one of the few spots that Natsu frequently visited." stated Erza as she changed into her flight armor.

"I just hope that all of the employees got out safely." stated Mira as an explosion was heard while the whole building started to shake.

"Was that Natsu?" asked Levy with a slightly scared expression.

"No that came from below and Natsu went above us, so let's go teach these dark mages that we aren't a guild that they should mess with." shouted Erza as she charged towards the stairs with a few others following her.

"Alright everyone who's still here, Erza is obvious leading the attack team while you'll stay here and figure out what's going on and protect those that can't fight for themselves." said Mira as she was about to follow the attack group and help them.

"I want to come too aunt Mira." shouted Asuka who was trying to get out of her mother's grasp.

"Asuka could you do something for me and Natsu?" asked Mira with a small smile.

"Sure if it's not just sitting around her while you're all fighting." replied Asuka.

"It's not and it's only something that you can do Asuka, which will really help Natsu and me. And that is protecting everyone else here with your mom and any other people that we might send your way. But if they don't do this Asuka they are not to be trusted." explained Mira as she did the gesture that they had just done moments ago.

"Alright aunt Mira, you and uncle Natsu can count on me." declared Asuka as she patted her guns.

"We're counting on it Asuka, so keep safe while we're gone." said Mira before she took off to catch up with the others that were already fighting. And when she made it to the next level Mira was expecting to hear the sounds of battling but it was completely silent so she made her way slowly through the halls occasionally checking some random offices that turned up nothing. But Mira was shocked at what she saw once she made it past most of the offices and made it to the main room. That used to be a huge room full of cubicles that their journalists would work in, but that was no longer the case since most of them were smashed or thrown to the sides.

But what shocked Mira the most was seeing a few of her fellow members already unable to continue fighting without getting help from Wendy. The ones already out for commission were: Cana, Laki and Lucy who were all getting treated by Levy right now as Evergreen, Erza and Juvia guarded the entrance from the lower level. This made Mira really glad that Lisanna and Kinana decided to stay upstairs with Bisca and Asuka and the few employees of Sorcerer's Weekly that were helping with the photoshoot such as Jason and Jeremy.

"What the hell happened here?" asked Mira as she took notice of about ten stone statues and six other mages tied up and tossed into a corner.

"Natsu wasn't lying about them being tough." hissed Cana as she held her side as she got back up with the intentions of still fighting.

"And as you can see we were a little outnumbered." said Erza with an extremely pissed off face that was gone as they then all had to cover their ears because of the roar that they could only assume came from Natsu above them.

"Shit he sounds pissed." said Lucy with a slight smile, since this reminded her of all the jobs that she went on with Natsu that were similar to his situation. As the rest of them remembered back to certain events in their pasts where Natsu would let out a roar like that, and unfortunately they usually only happened when things were going really bad. This made them sit there quietly for a few more moments, all hoping that this wasn't going to be another one of those cases.

"Why haven't they come up for us?" asked Evergreen as she kept an eye on the stairs and the elevator.

"I don't know but at least this is giving us a really good time to regroup and come up with a plan." said Erza as both Laki and Lucy got up and made their way to the rest of them.

"Yes and the first thing that is going to happen is you three are going to join the rest of them upstairs before you get hurt even more." declared Mira as she glared at the three.

"Not happening Mira, not if the five of you plan on going down there where there could be more than thirty mages probably as skilled as the ones we just fought." said Cana as she glared back.

"She's right Mira, because these dark mages were probably just their grunts used to gage us. Since that seems like something a dark guild would do." said Lucy as a few explosions were heard going off in a few of the surrounding buildings. And they all looked out in horror as two buildings completely collapsed leaving behind a pile of rubble.

"Oh my lord, how could they do such a thing?" asked Mira as she clenched her fists and her magic started to flare to extreme heights as they all stood there for a while in complete disbelief.

"You three will do as Mira just said right now and can only rejoin us once Wendy heals you. Do I make myself CLEAR?" asked Erza as her magic flared up with Mira's as she glared at her fellow members.

"Yes Sir!" saluted Lucy who knew that she couldn't win against Erza when she was like this.

"Oh and make sure you do the Fairy hand gesture otherwise Asuka will probably shoot you." said Mira before she and the rest of the girls still able to fight headed down to the lobby.

"Why would Asuka do that?" asked Cana as they slowly made their way back upstairs. All a little relieved that they were forced to not fight since they were all pretty badly wounded.

"I have no idea why Cana." said Laki as she shook her head back and forth.

"Well we better listen to her, because I would rather not be shot by Natsu's fire that is also infused with his lightning." said Lucy as she opened the door only to hear someone shout at her.

"Freeze right now or I'll shoot you before you can so much as move another finger." said Asuka with her guns pointed directly at them and a stern glare in her eyes.

"Asuka its just us." said Cana as she was about to take another step until a chunk of ice flew past her face by a mere centimeter.

"The next one will freeze you solid, just like I did to them." declared Asuka as she motioned to the left of them and they were surprised to see two people frozen solid. But they couldn't tell who they were since their backs were still to them.

"Asuka I am only going to slowly do what Mira told me to do so don't shoot." stated Lucy as she slowly gave her the hand gesture and was glad to see Asuka instantly lower her guns.

"I had to be sure since these two tried to trick me and possibly hurt my mom more." stated Asuka who looked like she was about to cry.

"Asuka what happened and where's your mother?" asked Laki as she quickly hugged the girl not caring about her injuries.

"We were all just waiting here like Mira told us to when all of a sudden mom screamed out in pain and fell to the floor. And it was because of another sniper just like the one that shot uncle Natsu." said Asuka now not being able to hold back her tears.

"Oh my god, where is she? We need to get Wendy here right now!" shouted Lucy as she started to panic after hearing all of this.

"Settle down Lucy, thanks to Asuka here, Bisca is going to be fine. She's just resting over there on the floor along with everyone else that can't fight." explained Lisanna who was in her cat form as she dropped from the ceiling behind them.

"How did she do that?" asked Cana not understanding how Asuka could help someone who's been shot.

"Because I shot her with my healing bullets." said Asuka with a smile as she wiped away a few tears.

"Asuka you truly are incredible and I know that everyone is going to be so proud of you." said Laki with a big smile as she hugged Asuka again.

"Even uncle Natsu and aunt Mira?" asked Asuka looking up at her hopefully.

"Definitely Asuka." said Laki as everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.

"But I wasn't able to protect my mom from being shot." stated Asuka with a frown and looked like she was about to cry again.

"Asuka you saved your mom's life by healing her and you saved everyone else when these two tried to make the most of the confusion. Natsu himself couldn't have done a better job, so you should be proud of yourself Asuka." said Lisanna as she pointed to the two frozen mages.

"Who are they?" asked Lucy as she looked over at them.

"People that were impersonating you two, but Asuka here did the same thing that she did to you three. And as you can see they didn't know what the correct gesture was so they are now frozen." said Lisanna as she pointed to Cana and Lucy.

"Really?" asked Cana.

"Take a look for yourselves, and they were very skilled at it. I didn't even think that they could possibly be fakes and was just relieved that we were getting back up after what happened to Bisca." answered Lisanna as she glared at the two frozen mages who still looked like Lucy and Cana.

"Wow, they are really not messing around about trying to get Natsu are they." stated Lucy as she looked at a perfect match of herself frozen in ice.

"They even mimicked our wounds." pointed out Cana.

"You guys are hurt?" asked Asuka with a concerned expression.

"Yes we are Asuka but we'll be fine." replied Laki with a smile that turned into a grimace because of the wound on her leg.

"Then let me help, **HEAL SHOT!** " shouted Asuka as she unloaded two shots into each of them before they could tell her no.

"Don't do that ever again Asuka!" shouted Lucy who thought that she was going to die.

"Why aunt Lucy, don't you feel better?" asked Asuka as she reloaded her pistol that shot all of them.

"Wow I actually do, but next time please explain yourself because I literally though I was going to die." stated Lucy as she wiped some of the sweat off of her brow.

"Okay, I guess that makes sense since I was shooting you." said Asuka with a little grin.

"Do you guys happen to know what Natsu roared about?" asked Cana as she inspected her wound that was a lot better. But still hurt a little bit, but that wasn't going to stop her from going back down to the lobby and helping her friends and family out.

"It happened right after Bisca was shot so we're guessing that was the reason for it." answered Lisanna with a frown.

"That would of course set him off." said Laki with a smile that then turned to a frown at the thought of what Natsu might do to the mage that tried to take Asuka's mother away from her.

"I think that two of us should probably go help the others out." stated Laki as she stood in the doorway ready to go and join the fight again.

"Lucy do you mind staying here?" asked Cana.

"Not at all but you two need to be careful." stated Lucy that caused the other two to nod their heads and then take off.

"Don't worry Lucy, they'll all be fine. Besides we have one very pissed off dragon on our side." said Lisanna trying to lighten the mood that was pretty low right now.

"I know that but I can't help but be worried about everyone in situations like this." replied Lucy with a concerned look in her eyes as she watched the door.

 **With Natsu as he went to the roof:**

"You guys messed up big; you were dumb enough to attack when I was with my family. Now you are going to feel the wrath of a dragon that is protecting its family!" shouted Natsu after blowing off the doors while having a creepy grin on his face.

"Shoot him!" shouted one of the mages as they all opened fire on Natsu. And after they had all unloaded a full clip into him he stood there with his grin only getting bigger and more deranged as he looked at the people that almost hurt Mira, Wendy and Asuka along with the rest of the Fairy Tail mages here.

"You won't be able to touch me with those while I don't have to protect someone else from being shot. Now it's time to make sure that you will never be able to pull a trigger again." said Natsu as he pulled out TALON and pointed it at them.

"What the fuck did you do to not get hit by those bullets?" asked the man that told the rest to fire.

"It's a secret, just like how I was able to chop off your hands." said Natsu now standing behind the handless man that fell to his knees screaming at his stumps, not believing that they were gone.

"Run!" shouted another mage who then fell to the ground screaming out in pain as he lost his right leg from the knee down.

"That isn't going to save any of you from my wrath. Now I normally wouldn't be so brutal like this, but I have come to the realization that I need to make sure that you dark mages learn that my friends are completely off limits so something like this shit here never happens again." said Natsu as he quickly brought down four more mages as Wendy and the two Exceeds appeared.

"Natsu-nii what do you need us to do." asked Wendy before she saw what Natsu was doing, which shocked her as he took off limbs with no care at all. She couldn't believe that Natsu would be taking their lives like this even if they were trying to hurt Fairy Tail, but she then noticed that something was off. It was the lack of blood that should have been flying everywhere if Natsu was chopping off limbs like this.

"Wendy none of them are going to die because TALON instantly cauterized their wounds which is more than these assholes deserve." growled Natsu after taking out the twelfth mage. Which Natsu knew that he was only able to do this because they were thrown off by the bullets going straight through him and then watching him start chopping off appendages as if they were nothing. All of this was not what the dark mages expected or were informed about Natsu, because he was supposed to be a mage that isn't willing to kill no matter what. But that is not what any of them witnessed just a few moments ago because the man before them could easily end their lives if he chose to do so or was backed into a corner with no other options.

"I just realized that Natsu-nii but isn't this still going a little too far?" stated Wendy as she looked at the mages all screaming out in pain at losing appendages because of Natsu.

"No I don't think so Wendy because if I hadn't moved Asuka or you when I did one of you could have died. So they are all lucky that I didn't decided to take their heads, but that doesn't matter right now because I need you three to start evacuating the surrounding areas so hopefully no one else gets caught up in this." ordered Natsu as the other three took off to do what he told them to.

"Seems like a few more of you guys have just been taken down by my friends." stated Natsu as he picked up the handless guy by his throat since he was the one to calm down the most so far.

"Doesn't matter since this is going to be where you die Salamander!" said the man as he spat in Natsu's face.

"No I really don't think that today is going to be that day, but it might be the day that you know what true fear is." said Natsu as he lit the man's foot on fire causing him to start screaming out in pain.

"Who are you guys?" asked Natsu as he continued to burn the man.

"We're all from different guilds that want to see you die Salamander just please make it stop!" shouted the man in immense pain.

"Interesting, I didn't know that you dark guilds were all that chummy with each other." stated Natsu as the man stopped screaming because Natsu stopped burning him. But before Natsu could threaten him with burning him again he heard a gunshot go off that was followed by the distinctive scream of Bisca, which caused Natsu to throw the man aside as he let out a roar and zoned in on the scent of gunpowder that was going to lead him to the new man that was going to get all of Natsu's attention.

Natsu could instantly tell that he was on the building south of were the first sniper was located. So he launched himself over to the building and completely took out the side wall in the process. This caught the sniper by surprise as he was launched into the other side of the room and only stopped because of the wall.

"You are going to tell me absolutely everything that you know about this whole operation of yours while I slowly break every bone in that body of yours." said Natsu as he stalked over to the downed sniper.

"W-w-w-w-what?" asked the sniper.

"Oh you heard me, and I would be quick about it because I will only stop once you are done telling me everything." said Natsu as he punched him in the face breaking his nose instantly and then brought him up against the wall by his throat.

"I would start talking right now, while also pray to whatever you believe in that the person you just shot doesn't die. Otherwise once I am done with breaking all of your bones I am going to slowly burn you until nothing is left of you!" shouted Natsu as he then broke the guys thumb causing him to scream out.

"You better start talking fast because as you can see I have very little patience for filth that tried to kill a little girl right in front of me.

"Fuck you Salamander!" shouted the man as he pushed a button that Natsu didn't notice because of the pure rage that he was in because of how close Mira, Wendy and Asuka came to dying just moments ago. The next thing that happened was the building that they were in and the one right next to them had their lower levels destroyed causing them to collapse in on themselves.

 **With the Attack Team:**

"Look at what we have here boys and girls? Some of the Fairies decided to come and die like the Salamander just did." said one of the dark mages that was obviously the leader of this group.

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Mira who was already using her dragon soul.

"Oh those buildings that just collapsed were rigged with explosives just in case Salamander made his way over to them. Which considering that they are now nothing but piles of rubble I would say that he did and is no longer among the living." said the boss with a sneer.

"That isn't true and how could you do that with some of your own men in those buildings?" shouted out Erza in complete disgust.

"My men what are you talking about Titania, those two guys were sent to me from other guilds to be used as cannon fodder. And just by sacrificing two of them we took down one of the most well-known mages in all of Fiore." replied the boss as he started to laugh like a mad man.

"Natsu-san would have never fallen for a trap like that." shouted Juvia as she glared at the man.

"You guys are not really who I wanted to see fight, so kill them already." stated the boss as half of the mages charged the mages of Fairy Tail. And for the next ten minutes a fierce battle raged on that was not looking good for the mages of Fairy Tail since they were so outnumbered. But luckily Cana and Laki showed up just in time to save Levy before she would have been hit by a spell that would have probably killed her. And for the next few moments it looked like they were going to win until more dark mages joined in on the fun, but once again reinforcements came in at the nick of time this time in the form of Wendy and two Exceeds who were both wielding swords.

The other girls were surprised at how strong Wendy had become and was able to attack like Natsu used to. But thanks to being a sky dragon slayer she moved like the wind and barely ever had to block an attack and could dodge most of them while dealing devastating blows to their enemies. While the two Exceeds were also a force to be reckoned with since they were a perfect fighting duo. Neither of them had to be concerned about their back because the other one was always there to guard it. So with the addition of these it now looked as if Fairy Tail was going to win all of this until the boss of the dark guilds shouted loud enough for everyone to stop fighting.

"You Fairies are going to stop this at once otherwise these poor civilians are going to pay the price for it." declared the boss as five of his men brought out civilians that were bound and gagged.

"You bastards." growled Wendy as the air around her started to circle around at tremendous speeds.

"Settle down little girl unless you want this boy to die." said the boss as he pointed a sword at the boy's throat.

"You do that then I will rip yours out." shouted Wendy as she glared at the boss.

"Wendy stand down!" shouted Erza.

"It would be wise to listen to your friend little girl." said the boss with a smug grin.

"She's not my friend and if I do that you'll kill them any ways after you kill us." shouted Wendy.

"HAHAHAHA, wow you are actually smarter than I was informed little girl. From what I was told aren't all Fairy Tail mages supposed to do anything in order to save the lives of others or something like that?" asked the boss after his little laugh.

"Something like that which is why I won't stand down when that would mean just my death along with them because they will be of no use to you after we're gone." stated Wendy as she continued to glare at the man.

"This would usually make this into a standoff where neither of us can do anything, but unfortunately for you guys we were able to rig this building so that the top floor will be blown sky high. Isn't that where you have your other guild members located at, along with some of the people working here? So unless you want them to join the Salamander in the afterlife you will all surrender now." said the boss as all of the other dark mages backed out of the building while he was talking.

"Natsu isn't dead!" shouted Wendy ready to tear him apart just for saying that.

"HAHAHAHA I love that I can see that you actually believe that little girl. But not even the mighty Salamander can survive an explosion that would result with the building coming down on top of him." said the boss with a happy grin just thinking about it.

"He isn't dead because I would know then." stated Wendy with one hundred percent certainty.

"Then where is he little girl, because this would be the time that a hero comes in to save the day. But we all know that doesn't happen in real life so stand down now or you'll have to listen to the rest of your friends be blown to smithereens." said the boss clearly enjoying himself.

"Wendy we have to do what he says." said Erza as she dropped her sword.

"Like hell we do since there is nothing to stop him from blowing them up once we surrender." shouted Wendy.

"How about my word little girl, because even though I am a dark mage I still have my own code I live by." stated the boss which surprised some of the Fairy Tail mages.

"Your word means nothing to me." spat Wendy still not standing down.

"Wendy it's all we have, since we can't save the others any other way." said Mira with a frown as she went back to her normal form.

"Mira you can't believe that he'll keep his word." protested Wendy.

"It's all I can do Wendy, because otherwise there's no chance of Lisanna or any of them making it out alive." pointed out Mira with her head hung low because she once again wasn't strong enough to protect Natsu or her sister and felt like she could die right now because of it.

"But what if he's just bluffing?" argued Wendy not liking the idea of surrendering to these guys at all since it pretty much meant her death along with the others.

"I am not willing to take that risk Wendy, so please surrender for them." begged Mira now in tears because of her failures.

"Come on wasn't Fairy Tail the guild that always did the impossible?" said a voice that all of the members of Fairy Tail knew right away and instantly brought a smile to all of their faces.

"Who in the hell said that?" asked the boss as he turned around and saw Natsu Dragneel standing in the middle of his men with a sly grin on his face.

"Well that would be me, and it looks like you are the man that has the answers to all of my questions." stated Natsu still grinning at the boss as multiple weapons were now being pointed at him.

"How the hell, are you still alive after that?" asked the boss still in shock at seeing Natsu alive.

"Because your intel on me is out of date, but that doesn't matter since you aren't going to be going anywhere but prison after this. Wait I forgot that you will first be going to the hospital after I am done with you." said Natsu as his magic flared up causing the mages around him to back up in fear and because of the heat that he was emitting.

"I guess it doesn't matter because you are going to die right now otherwise I am going to push this button and kill all of your friends up there." stated the boss with a confident grin.

"No I really don't feel like dying today, which is what I told some of your buddies on the roof. But now that I am thinking about it they are all probably from different dark guilds than yours so you couldn't care less about what happens to them." replied Natsu still having that grin he had since showing up.

"Very true Salamander, which can't be the said about you since you were willing to take a bullet for the little girl." stated the boss while showing off the button that would blow the place sky high.

"Then you are going to be surprised when I tell you to go right ahead and push that button." said Natsu causing everyone's mouths to drop wide open.

"I am not fooling around here Salamander, I will seriously push this button and kill them all." declared the boss as he put his thumb on it.

"And I already told you to go ahead and do it already because I am getting bored of you telling me nothing of value." said Natsu as he stuck the tip of TALON into the ground.

"Natsu what in the hell are you doing!" shouted Erza.

"Natsu you can't be serious." stated Levy as she looked at him not wanting to believe what he was just saying.

"Natsu you fucking asshole stop trying to get him to blow it up!" shouted Cana as she glared at him.

"You would be wise to listen to them Salamander and let one of my men kill you peacefully and I promise to let the rest of your friends leave here alive. Because as I have already told them that I am a man of my word." said the boss hoping that Natsu would agree to this because the power coming from him right now was something that he and his members couldn't handle since most of his forces were keeping the Rune Knights busy right now elsewhere.

"I am no longer a member of their guild so why would I sacrifice myself for them, or is your info so old that it has me still as being a member of Fairy Tail? So go right ahead and push that button of yours because that will be the last thing that you get to do before the two of us have a very long conversation." replied Natsu once again shocking everyone.

"Natsu-san we're still family aren't we?" asked Juvia who was close to tears.

"Natsu." said Wendy, Mira and Happy as they looked at him not willing to believe any of this.

"Natsu please don't do this." begged Erza since everyone else had nothing left to say to him in this situation.

"Sorry Erza but I am done almost dying for Fairy Tail, but don't worry I'll avenge them by making these dark mages wish that they were never born." said Natsu as he continued to stare at the boss.

"Damn Salamander you've become completely cold blooded since you left Fairy Tail. But I guess I might as well give you what you asked for." said the boss while pushing the button, expecting to see a face of complete horror shoot across Natsu's face which is not what happened. Natsu continued to have the same grin that he had on his face this whole time that only got bigger as the boss pushed the button.

The next second there was a huge explosion heard above them causing all of the mages of Fairy Tail to fall to their knees in shock at what just happened to their friends. The boss of the dark mages was hoping that he could use Natsu becoming distraught at the loss of his friends to finish him off, but that didn't happen because Natsu was as calm as ever.

"What the hell is wrong with you Salamander, how the hell are you still grinning after I just killed some of your friends?" asked the boss who was creeped out by Natsu's grin.

"Because this will now let all of the other dark guilds know that I am no longer affiliated with Fairy Tail. But what I am going to do next to all of you will let them know what the consequences are for those that do happen to attack my old family as a way to try and get back at me." explained Natsu with both of his hands on the handle of TALON.

"You're even crazier than me." stated the boss not knowing what else to say.

"You might be right about that but now it's my turn. **FIRE DRAGON'S WRATH!** " shouted Natsu as fire burst from him and spread out from him in every direction making a ball of fire that went two blocks in each direction in a matter of seconds. And when it died down all of the dark mages where on the ground with severe burns and completely knocked out while all of the mages from Fairy Tail were completely unharmed. Actually they were now all completely healed after the fire went over them, which made all of them confused at what just happened to them.

"Shit that almost killed me even with TALON providing most of the power." said Natsu as he stumbled and almost fell over.

"Natsu how could you?" asked Erza still on her knees and crying. Natsu didn't say anything and turned away from her and looked at a building in the distance with an intent stare trying to see something that none of them could see.

"Don't you dare look away from me Natsu after you caused the death of our friends!" shouted Erza as she slowly got up but still didn't get a response from him. As everyone else were still too stunned to say anything at all because of what just happened in the last few minutes.

"Natsu you'll pay for what you've done here today." declared Erza as she picked up her sword and slowly marched towards Natsu who still had his back turned to them.

"Natsu!" shouted Erza as she swung her sword at him that forced him to finally turn and look at her in order to block the attack. But Natsu still didn't say anything as they locked blades with each other and he took another glance over his shoulder at the building that he was staring at before.

"How could you let them die Natsu when you could have done that move you just did earlier, and saved all of them before he could have pressed that button? Do you really hate me and Lucy so much that you are willing to let others die if it means that we would die too?" asked Erza as she broke down and couldn't stop crying. Natsu once again remained completely silent for another two minutes until he finally spoke in a really quiet voice.

"There fine Erza, no one has died today except for the first sniper that shot me. But that was only because I couldn't get to him in time." said Natsu just loud enough for the rest to hear as well while he had a frown on his face.

"But how, they were up there when the explosion went off?" asked Levy not wanting this all to be a cruel lie.

"After they exploded those other two buildings as if it was nothing, all in the hopes of just getting me. I assumed that they would do something like this so I moved everyone else to a secure location a few blocks down, which is one of the outposts for the Rune Knights." explained Natsu still having a frown.

"How in the world were you able to do that in under ten minutes?" asked Cana not believing that even Natsu could do something like that all by himself, since she assumed that all of the people he took care of on the roof where transported as well since the only one to die was one of the snipers.

"I called in a favor that I have and got some help." answered Natsu.

"And who was that Natsu?" asked Carla who was thinking along the same lines of Cana. But before Natsu could answer he was tackled by Mira and Wendy who both were hugging him and didn't seem like either of them would stop anytime soon.

"I knew that you were still alive Natsu-nii" said Wendy as she cried into his chest.

"Thank you for saving us again Natsu, and I knew that you would doing it again." said Mira as she smiled at him hoping to get a smile from him, but unfortunately it would seem that the frown was there to stay.

"I've already told you both that I will always be there when you need me the most. And Wendy I am proud of you for not backing down in a situation like that because everything that you said was completely correct. Which is why I try to prevent situations like this from happening at all costs." said Natsu as he hugged both of them back.

"Thanks Natsu-nii." replied Wendy as she and Mira both smiled at him.

"Natsu?" asked Carla as she tapped her foot wanting answers.

"You are quite the nosey cat and isn't there a saying about curiosity killing the cat?" asked Natsu as he looked back at Carla who was not amused by his attempt at a joke.

"Fine if you must know I had Doranbolt help me out with moving everyone since he owed me one." stated Natsu as he let out a sigh as he got up after getting Mira and Wendy off of him.

"Then why didn't you tell us all of this earlier?" asked Levy finding all of this really odd.

"Because all of this is my fault." stated Natsu as he let his bangs cover his eyes.

"Natsu this isn't your fault." argued Mira.

"How the hell is it not Mira? They did all of this because they were trying to kill me and because of that fact you all got caught up in it as well." shouted Natsu which caught Mira by surprise.

"Natsu no one blames you for this." stated Mira as the rest nodded their heads in agreement.

"HAHAHAHAHA that's rich because just moments ago, most of you believed that I let the others die and thought that I didn't even care about them dying. So how in the world can you say no one blames me for this if most of you thought that I could do something like that?" asked Natsu as he looked at them and got no response.

"Maybe I am better than I thought at acting, which would mean that pretty much everything up till now has been my fault. I mean if I can get you guys to believe that I would let that maniac kill my friends like that then maybe it was impossible for my old team to see that I was hurting?" said Natsu who was now pretty much just talking with himself and letting the rest hear his thoughts.

"Natsu why did you do all of that acting and not just let us know that they were fine?" asked Levy still finding Natsu's actions strange.

"Because I thought that this would probably be the best time to make sure that nothing like this happens again in the future." replied Natsu with a frown on his face as he looked at his feet.

"And how did you plan to do that Natsu?" asked Mira quietly.

"Well I sent a very clear message with the mages that were on the roof. And what I did down here was hopefully going to make them think that I truly don't care about Fairy Tail anymore, but would happily use you guys getting hurt as an excuse to go all out on them like I just did." explained Natsu.

"Then why didn't you tell us all of this right after you took care of them all, instead of ignoring me all of those times?" asked Erza as she noticed the sad expression still on his face.

"Because there was someone watching us and if I told you all of this while he was still watching then everything that I was miraculously able to do up till that point would have been for nothing." replied Natsu.

"Who was watching us Natsu-san?" asked Juvia.

"I honestly have no idea Juvia." answered Natsu.

"Then why did you wait until they stopped watching?" asked Cana.

"Because if you all haven't noticed already, this wasn't the action of just one dark guild there are at least eight different dark guilds here. Meaning that something big has been going on behind the scenes for a really long time and whoever was watching us had almost as much power as Erza. Which led me to believe that whoever it was, was probably working with the person or group that is actually running the show here so I couldn't break character as I have already explained." said Natsu who then let out a long sigh.

"Natsu I am so sorry I had no idea." apologized Erza as she got closer to him.

"It's fine Erza, your senses aren't as good as mine and you haven't been being attacked by dark mages at least four times a month like I have been recently." stated Natsu shocking the rest since they didn't know about this.

"You've had to deal with things like this four times a month?" asked Levy in shock.

"I wouldn't compare them to this at all, because this one was very well thought out. All of the others were usually a small dark guild trying to make a name for themselves by taking me down, thinking that it would be easy since I am all by myself right now." replied Natsu as he ran a hand through his hair.

"How are we just learning about this now Natsu, and why hasn't this been covered in Sorcerer's Weekly like everything else that you do?" asked Mira as she looked at him with a concerned look.

"They have been, they are just sometimes labled as other things like bandits or a dark guild that I supposedly hunted down. Which I have yet to actually do since they keep running into me while I am wandering around, and when you think about it it's kind of funny since they could actually find me when my old team couldn't." said Natsu as he did a sad chuckle at the end.

"Natsu I don't even know how I can express to you how sorry I am." stated Erza as she reached out for him but he pulled away.

"Erza just stop okay, now I am going to get this shit cleaned up. Hey Doranbolt its okay to bring them back I have neutralized the threats meaning you have a few more prisoners." said Natsu as he spoke into his watch after backing away from Erza.

"Your watch has a communication lacrima?" asked Levy as she looked at it.

"Yes it does." was all Natsu said when behind him appeared the rest of their group along with Doranbolt and a few Rune Knights.

"Uncle Natsu you're alright!" shouted Asuka as she hugged him as hard as possible.

"I told you that I would be alright after I introduced you to my friend Doranbolt. And I am so proud of how you being able to protect everyone while I dealt with the bad guys that were smart enough to not mess with you." said Natsu with the first smile he had since he lost that grin he was giving the leader of the dark mages.

"That was quite the move you did Salamander." said Doranbolt with a grin as he looked at all of the severely wounded dark mages on the ground.

"Something that I have been working on during my travels, oh and please leave that guy because he and I need to have a few words before I hand him over to you." stated Natsu as he pointed to the boss.

"No problem Salamander and the Council appreciates your continued work at protecting this country." said Doranbolt as he directed his men to start rounding up the rest of the dark mages.

"Natsu I want to thank you for saving Asuka like you did." said Bisca as she gave Natsu a quick hug to show her appreciation for what he did.

"Bisca you know that I would rather die than see any harm come to her, which I thought everyone else knew." said Natsu as a frown appeared on his face as most of the attack party looked away from him. All ashamed that they thought he could be that cold hearted to let the others die like that.

"What happened here?" asked Lucy, noticing that most of them looked ashamed.

"Me realizing that it might not have been your fault at all Lucy that you didn't notice anything before I left Fairy Tail." answered Natsu with a sad smile directed at her.

"Natsu that isn't true." stated Mira as she hugged him.

"Thanks Mira, but I have some things that I need to rethink after today." said Natsu still having that sad smile on his face.

"I can still come with you right Natsu?" asked Happy nervously because he really couldn't read Natsu like he used to.

"Of course you can buddy, but I first have to talk with this piece of filth and you won't need to be there for that. So how about we meet up at the library which isn't too far from here." suggested Natsu with a very faint smile.

"Aye Sir!" cheered Happy causing Natsu to actually have a small smile appear. Natsu then separated from Mira and headed to the boss who was still knocked out.

"Natsu what are you going to do?" asked Erza who realized that she couldn't tell Natsu's attentions at all. And might have never been able to after what she just witnessed today.

"Calm down Erza I won't kill him if that is what you were thinking. I am just going to be getting the information that I want by any means necessary." said Natsu with a creepy grin and then launched a ball of fire into the air and disappeared with the boss before anyone could say anything to them.

"Seriously what happened down here?" asked Lucy.

"Oh just Erza and a few others thinking that Natsu let all of you die like it was nothing." stated Wendy as she glared at them.

"How in the world could you believe that?" asked Lucy in complete disbelief that they would even think that was possible for Natsu.

"You weren't here Lucy, we thought that you all died because of the explosion." said Levy with a frown.

"And Natsu wanted the man to push the button, so what were we supposed to think?" asked Cana.

"That he obviously had some sort of other plan going on because that is the one thing that I know Natsu will never do. He would never let someone else die if there was any other possible option, he literally took a bullet for us when he easily would have let it go through him." pointed out Lucy as she joined in on glaring at them.

"We know that Lucy but everything up to that point was so chaotic." replied Erza with her head down.

"That doesn't make any difference at all Erza, when has it ever not been chaotic when we are fighting with Natsu in life or death situations like this? The answer is never Erza, and each and every time Natsu somehow saves us all from dying. So what in the world made you doubt him this time?" asked Lucy as she continued to glare at them.

"The things that he said Lucy made it sound like he no longer cared about us." stated Laki so Erza wouldn't have to continue speaking since it was hitting her pretty hard right now.

"I don't care if he said that he wanted to help these dark mages kill us. You should have all been able to see that he wasn't telling the truth, otherwise what in the world is he even doing by coming here to do this photoshoot?" asked Lucy who couldn't believe that some of them doubted Natsu caring for them so easily. Lucy would admit that if it had been just her up there along with Erza then it might have been more believable, but Asuka was up there along with Lisanna and a few civilians which made it completely out of the question in her mind.

"Sorry to interrupt but where did Natsu go?" asked Doranbolt as he reappeared after taking all of the dark mages except for the boss back to their outpost.

"He just took off with their leader." replied Mira.

"Shit, he better not do anything stupid." said Doranbolt as he started to rub his temples.

"Doranbolt why are you even here, if you don't mind me asking?" asked Erza who would doing anything right now to try and keep her mind off of the fact that she once again hurt Natsu with her actions.

"Well I thought that Natsu already told you but I owe him one." replied Doranbolt as he looked back at the mages of Fairy Tail.

"How did that happen?" asked Cana.

"He got me out of a life or death situation like he does for a lot of people." answered Doranbolt clearly not wanting to elaborate anymore on the topic.

"That makes sense, but why did he have a direct line with you?" asked Levy.

"Oh that, well you could imagine that the Council wants to keep an eye on him and you know how hard that is. So they offered him to have direct contact with me so that I can send troops to pick up the dark mages that he's been taking out for us, and they did that knowing that we have history which made it a smoother process than you would have thought." explained Doranbolt.

"I have a question why have you guys been reporting some of these dark mages as bandits and other things of that sort?" asked Evergreen as she glared at Doranbolt who she didn't care for at all.

"Because the Council didn't want the public to know that more dark guilds seem to be forming at an alarming rate. And luckily for them Natsu didn't care at all what they decided to report those incidents as because in his point of view the dark mages were captured and that is all that mattered." answered Doranbolt.

"That makes sense." stated Laki with a small smile since it sounded like Natsu.

"I have a question for you guys, what in the world was that last spell that Natsu used?" asked Doranbolt.

"Juvia has no idea." replied Juvia as most of the others nodded their heads in agreement.

"It reminded me of when Master casted Fairy Law during the whole Phantom Lord fiasco." stated Erza who was very close to Makarov when he casted it.

"That's what I thought too." agreed Mira with a faint smile since it had been bugging her.

"I don't know what that spell is, but Natsu's spell seemed to burn his enemies and heal all of us." said Wendy as the rest realized that his spell did both of those things.

"Natsu did a move like that and you still thought that he just let us die." said Lucy as she shook her head in disbelief.

"About time you called me Natsu, where the hell are you?" asked Doranbolt stopping any conversation that might have been starting.

"I just sent you the coordinates of where I am at Doranbolt and be sure to come alone." said Natsu and ended the call.

"Well I have to go make sure that Natsu doesn't start chopping off limbs like he was earlier today." said Doranbolt and then disappeared in a flash.

"What did he mean by that?" asked Lisanna who couldn't imagine Natsu doing something like that.

"That is what he did to all of the mages on the roof, and before you start thinking that he murdered them. The wounds were instantly cauterized by his fire, and he only did that to try and make a clear statement that you don't go after Fairy Tail otherwise you'll never be the same once he finds you." explained Carla as she had a disappointed look directed at a few of the mages.

"That seems like he might have been going a little too far." stated Cana.

"They would have hit Asuka or me with that bullet if it wasn't for Natsu-nii." pointed out Wendy since she thought the same thing when she talked to Natsu. This caused all of them to realize that one of the two girls probably would be dead on the spot if it wasn't for Natsu taking that bullet which is something he definitely realized and probably caused him to be so brutal.

"This is enough excitement for me, and that includes the rest of the week so why don't we head back home." suggested Mira with a faint smile.

"What about Natsu and Happy?" asked Lisanna who was one of the few to notice that Happy was gone.

"I am confident that Natsu doesn't want to see any of us right now. And Happy is waiting for him so they can go on an adventure with him." replied Mira as she started to walk away from the warzone finding it very odd that Doranbolt and other Rune Knights weren't storming the place and trying to blame them for it.

"Aaaahhh I didn't know that Happy was going on an adventure with uncle Natsu. I would have asked to go with them." said Asuka with her pouting face that looked really cute.

"Maybe next time Honey." said Bisca with a proud smile because her daughter already showed today that she was becoming a fine wizard thanks to Natsu and Wendy.

 **With Natsu:**

"I take it that all of the other dark mages have been apprehended?" asked Natsu as Doranbolt appeared in the cave that was in the entrance of.

"Most of them were, but I am afraid that some got away Commander Dragneel." replied Doranbolt.

"I can assume that I don't have to tell you how concerned all of this makes me." said Natsu as he led Doranbolt further into the cave.

"Not at all Commander Dragneel, have you been able to figure out who's behind all of it?" asked Doranbolt.

"So far from what I have gathered most of the mages that participated had a really deep hatred for me and were able to put aside their petty differences to try and accomplish taking me out. They were all just following the orders of their Masters and knew nothing else then that they were going to help kill me." said Natsu as they stopped in front of the boss of this operation.

"So whoever is pulling the strings here is doing everything that they can to remain in the shadows." stated Doranbolt.

"It would appear so Major Doranbolt, these smaller guilds probably don't even know that their Masters are taking orders from someone else. Which is actually pretty smart if they want to remain a secret organization, since the less people that know something the less likely it is for it to get out." replied Natsu.

"So why do you think this guy knows anything Commander Dragneel?" asked Doranbolt.

"Because he was the boss of this operation and I would have to guess that he is the Master of his own guild that we probably have all under arrest right now. So if my suspicions are correct he'll be able to tell me who's in charge or at least give us something to look into." said Natsu as he gave the man a swift kick that caused the man to wake up and start coughing.

"Hey, I am going to make this very clear. I won't stand for lies and expect you to tell me absolutely everything that is going on with all of you dark guilds uniting like that." stated Natsu as he glared at the man.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA isn't it pretty obvious?" asked the dark mage as he chuckled to himself.

"I think I have a good idea of what's going on but I want to hear it from you and would like to put a name to this new alliance." said Natsu.

"This isn't an alliance Salamander, it's more like a kingdom that you are all too blind to even see." replied the man.

"Then enlighten me." stated Natsu.

"Why the hell not because you're powerless to do anything about it now that it's been completely established. So did you really think that no one would take the place of the Balam Alliance when you destroyed Oracion Sies and Grimoire Heart Salamander?" asked the man.

"I expected that to only happen once we took down Tartaros, but you are making it sound like it happened when I disappeared after getting rid of Grimoire Heart." replied Natsu.

"You truly aren't as dumb as everyone thinks you are Salamander. You are absolutely correct Salamander because those demons of Tartaros couldn't have cared less what we humans were up to as long as we stayed out of their way. So in the shadows of the underworld a new group started to take control of the influential people in the underworld such as dark guild Masters." explained the man.

"So why are you even telling us any of this?" asked Doranbolt.

"Because as soon as I failed to kill Salamander, I pretty much became a dead man walking. These guys are more ruthless than any other dark guild out there, which is how they have been able to eventually get most of the dark guilds under their control while still remaining a complete secret. Because any Master that didn't agree with them ended up dead a few days later by mysterious circumstances." answered the man.

"So they were going to try and kill you and all your men?" asked Natsu.

"No because that would be wasteful Salamander, all they need to do is take out the man in charge and get the new one to join up with them. Which is never that hard of a decision when the alternative is death." replied the dark mage.

"So what is the name of this organization or dark guild that is calling all of the shots now, and somehow only lets the Masters of the guilds they control know of them?" asked Natsu.

"I can't tell you that." stated the man.

"You can and will." said Doranbolt as he glared at him.

"No you don't understand if I say their name I will literally die right in front of you." said the dark mage with complete fear in his eyes.

"We won't let that happen." replied Natsu with a determined expression.

"You can't stop this Salamander, it's a spell they already put on me to prevent me from leaking information about them." explained the man as he put his hand onto his left collarbone.

"I would say that it's been doing a pretty shitty job since you've told us a lot already. They were probably only telling you that to make you too afraid to give out intel." pointed out Doranbolt as Natsu remained quiet.

"But I haven't giving you any concrete information yet, only things that you could have learned if you listened hard enough to the whispers in the dark alleys of Fiore." refuted the dark mage.

"Well you are already a dead man in your own eyes so why don't you try and give us something else and figure out if they were just bluffing." suggested Doranbolt.

"You do have a point that even if I get sent to jail you'll just find me dead the next morning. Alright the man that I met went by …" said the man who then started to make chocking sounds while scratching at his next.

"Hey what the hell happened to you?" asked Doranbolt as he stopped the man from scratching at his throat to only be startled from seeing a red tattoo of a hand choking the man to death.

"Shit, hey what's the name of this organization or dark guild if that's what you want to call it?" asked Natsu after seeing the same thing as Doranbolt.

"Red Right Hand." choked out the man with his last breath and struggled for a few more seconds then stopped moving completely.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope that this wasn't too long of a chapter but it's what I wanted to get accomplished in this chapter. And it took me this long to do all of that so that's what I did, so there you have it my own little nefarious organization that is going to be causing problems for Natsu and Fairy Tail in the future along with the rest of Fiore. So as always I hope you enjoyed reading it and also feel free to leave me a review about what you thought of this chapter and I will try and respond back to you as soon as possible.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	30. The GMG Opening Ceremony

Ch 30: The GMG Opening Ceremony

 **One month later on a little island off the coast of Fiore:**

"Who would have thought that finding a castle this big would be so hard." stated Natsu as he and Happy looked at the giant castle off in the distance.

"It is on an island in the middle of nowhere Natsu." replied Happy as he sat on Natsu's right shoulder.

"True, but why is it not on any of the maps made in the last hundred years?" asked Natsu as he started to walk in the direction of the black castle.

"I would have to say being on an island with an active volcano probably played a big part in no one caring about it." stated Happy who didn't mind the heat since it was no different than what Natsu sometimes produces.

"That would explain why no one is living here Happy, but it really doesn't explain why it's not on any of the maps." said Natsu as he admired the vegetation that was covering this island. It reminded him of the place where Igneel raised him as a boy, which makes sense since this was once the home of the Fire King.

"Maybe because they didn't want to anger Igneel." suggested Happy with a grin. Since Natsu hadn't left him for longer than a few hours in the past month, unlike how he said that he might be gone for a few days, and during this time they pretty much talked about everything like they used to. The only thing that Natsu didn't answer Happy about was why he couldn't return to Fairy Tail and exactly what he has been up to for the past few months.

"I can see why no one would want to do that." agreed Natsu with a smirk as he remembered how angry Igneel would get at him when he was younger.

"So what are we doing here Natsu?" asked Happy with a fish now in his mouth.

"I am thinking about fixing up the place and possibly using it for a while." stated Natsu as he heard some rustling in the trees to the left of him.

"Using it for what?" asked Happy, having already finished eating the fish faster than physically possible.

"Why have you and Mira been asking me all sorts of questions lately?" asked Natsu as he looked at Happy sitting on his shoulder.

"Because we're worried about you Natsu." replied Happy, trying his hardest to not give away that they were both trying to figure out more about what happened a month ago.

"I know that you both are, but this seems to be more than that." stated Natsu as he continued towards the castle.

"It isn't Natsu." stated Happy thinking that he might have just gotten away with it.

"So you two wouldn't be trying to figure out more about the Red Right Hand?" asked Natsu with a grin.

"What in the world is that?" asked Happy now looking at Natsu with his undivided attention.

"Oh just the group responsible for the thing that happened at that photoshoot." stated Natsu as he studied Happy's expressions.

"We didn't know that, so who are they?" asked Happy.

"I knew it, you two are trying to figure out about them." stated Natsu with a smug grin.

"Okay Natsu, yes we are and that is because all of those dark guilds working together was really weird." replied Happy, glad that he didn't have to try and hide this fact from Natsu anymore.

"Why didn't you just ask me buddy?" asked Natsu.

"Because I didn't want to possibly ruin this." replied Happy with a frown.

"Hey listen to me here Happy. There is absolutely nothing that you could do to stop me from loving you buddy, and I am sorry that we haven't been able to do stuff like this for a long time. But you understand why that had to happen, just look at what happened when I kept going to the same place once a month." said Natsu with a warm smile that instantly caused Happy to start smiling with him.

"Thanks Nastu." said Happy as he hugged his best friend and father figure.

"Anytime buddy." replied Natsu as he hugged him back.

"So what do you know about the Red Right Hand?" asked Happy right after letting go of Natsu.

"Wow straight to the point." said Natsu while chuckling.

"I know that our time is probably getting limited, so why dance around it." stated Happy with a slight frown at the thought that Natsu was probably going to leave him again.

"Good point Happy, and to be honest with you I don't know much about the Red Right Hand. It is a very secretive organization that most people don't even know exists, and those that do are too afraid to talk. And if any of them do they are killed as soon as they try to give me any information." explained Natsu with a slightly angry expression since he hasn't been able to find out much more on this group.

"That's more than we know." stated Happy.

"So is this just you and a Mira thing or is the rest of the guild in on it?" asked Natsu as he heard more rustling coming from both sides of him.

"The whole guild is in on it since the attack involved a lot of our members." answered Happy hoping that Natsu would be fine with it.

"Makes sense, so what have you guys been able to find out?" asked Natsu with a slight smile.

"Like I said before Natsu, pretty much nothing expect for the fact that eight different dark guilds came together for the sole purpose of killing you." replied Happy with a frown since Natsu always seemed to get the raw end of the deal in life.

"It was actually ten, but that doesn't really matter since the RRH is the one calling all of the shots." said Natsu as he came to a complete stop.

"Why did you just stop Natsu?" asked Happy slightly concerned since he could feel Natsu starting to release more of his magic.

"It would seem that I need to show the inhabitants of the island whose boss." replied Natsu as a smirk made its way across his face.

"What are you talking about Natsu?" asked Happy as Natsu started to release even more of his magic.

"You need to take off buddy; this is going to get a little messy really quick. And you need to sit this one out because it's just between me and a few fellow fire users." said Natsu as re-equipped his sword he used against Happy during his visit to Fairy Tail.

"Okay Natsu." replied Happy as he shot into the air and as soon as he was up there he could see that ten wyverns had surrounded Natsu with a few more coming in as stealthily as they possibly could.

 **"FIRE DRAGON'S FIREFALL!"** shouted Natsu as he launched the ball of fire into the air that allowed the surrounding area to become his playground. This caused the first ten wyverns to come out of hiding and start growling at Natsu and showing off their fangs to him.

"You wyverns were never really big fans of talking were you?" stated Natsu still smirking at the wyverns that had him completely surrounded. One of the wyverns decided to be the first to attack the human that they had cornered, thinking that this was just going to be another easy kill. But the rest of the wyverns watched as Natsu dodged the attack like it was nothing and then punched the wyvern hard enough to send if flying into another one essentially taking them both out of the fight.

"HAHAHAHA if that is all you have this is going to be even more boring than I was already guessing it to be." stated Natsu as he took off his coat, which showed that he was wearing his read outfit right now. The wyverns seemed to understand what Natsu was saying to them because they all started to growl at him even louder than they were before.

Happy was then shocked to see all of the wyverns unleash fire from their mouths directly at Natsu. Whose smirk only got bigger as he saw them do this, and let the attacks hit him like he always did when battling someone that used fire.

"Darn you fire wyverns actually have really good flames." stated Natsu after sucking in all of the flames, which shocked all of the wyverns since that was not an outcome that they ever expected to happen.

"Now it's my turn to make sure you know who is now in charge of this island." said Natsu as he cracked his knuckles and appeared right next to his first opponent. Even though the fight would probably be more accurate to call a massacre, all of the wyverns in the area were the victims, since none of them stood a chance against Natsu. And it was not beneficial to any of them that they were all fire based wyverns.

Happy just floated there in the sky for the next five minutes and watched Natsu mercilessly beat all of the wyverns to the point of them no longer being able to fight. And once he did that Natsu hollered up to him saying that it was safe for him to come down now, which Happy was more than glad to do.

"You really didn't hold back on them did you Natsu?" asked Happy as they were in front of one of the fire wyverns.

"Hey they are still tough to take down Happy and none of them died. So I would say I held back fine." stated Natsu as he bent down to the wyvern and then sent it some of his white fire. And Happy was shocked to see that the wyvern seemed to completely recover in the next two minutes, but was curious why Natsu did this.

But he was even more shocked to witness Natsu and the wyvern start conversing in the draconic language that was a very deep and harsh language, which is how Happy would describe it if he was forced to. And it honestly made Happy not want to be anywhere near the two of them as they used it because it just sounded like they were going to do something terrible. The conversation between the two of them lasted for a full hour that Happy really wished he had been asleep for since he really didn't like the sound of the draconic language.

"Alright Happy, I have settled everything with the fire wyverns on this island." stated Natsu with his usual grin.

"And how did you do that?" asked Happy as they went to one of the downed wyverns and Natsu started to heal it.

"I simply told their Alpha who I was, and along with the severe beat down I just gave them all. They were more than willing to believe that I am the son of Igneel, the last Fire King that they served all those years ago." answered Natsu.

"So what are they going to do now?" asked Happy as he kept an eye on the wyvern that Natsu was helping at the moment.

"It would appear that they are now going to serve me just like they did Igneel." stated Natsu as he made his way to a different wyvern.

"Are you trying to reunite the Fire Kingdom just like Levy said you might?" asked Happy excitedly since that sounded like it would be filled with tons of adventure and excitement.

"HAHAHAHAHA sorry Happy but do I seem like a king at all?" asked Natsu while trying to contain his laughter at the thought of the idea.

"Maybe not the old Natsu who was always have tons of fun, but the you right now would make a great king." stated Happy with a confident grin.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence buddy, but I don't really plan to do that since that way of life ended a long time ago." said Natsu as he finished up on this wyvern.

"I know that Natsu, but there has to be other beings like the wyverns here that still believe in that and want their king to return and look out for them." said Happy with a serious face.

"When in the world did you start to actually take things seriously?" asked Natsu as he looked at Happy as if he was a completely different exceed than the one that he always knew.

"The moment you left the guild." stated Happy with a slight frown.

"Sorry Happy, I really messed up with all of that." said Natsu as he too was frowning at that.

"Then why don't you come back Natsu, everyone really misses you. And after this you won't have to hide your true feelings anymore so nothing like this will ever happen again." said Happy with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Happy we've already been over this. Even though I now blame myself for hiding my true feelings from the guild; I still can't go back there anymore since I have other things that are more important than returning to Fairy Tail to deal with." said Natsu after a long sigh that he used to never do before.

"But you won't tell me what those things are Natsu, and you are not the only one responsible for this happening." stated Happy as he floated right in front of Natsu. Not letting him brush this aside like he has been for the past month that they have been together.

"You'll know what one of them is about in a month Happy. And how is it not all my fault Happy, you saw how most of them actually believed that I killed everyone inside of the building without so much as an ounce of remorse? If I was able to make them believe something as ludicrous as that, then how were any of them supposed to know that I was actually upset with how I was being treated?" asked Natsu as he growled in frustration at all of this.

"Because you weren't actually that good at acting when you were still at the guild Natsu and that was when you were mainly focused at keeping up your childish routine. Otherwise on one at all would have noticed any of that stuff and you would have realized that you were too good at keeping it from us." stated Happy with a sad smile on his little face.

"It doesn't really matter since I have moved on from being a Fairy Tail mage." said Natsu which caused Happy's mouth to drop at the comment.

"What are you talking about Natsu, you can still be a member of Fairy Tail again?" asked Happy as Natsu set to work on healing another wyvern.

"I know that I still can Happy, but I just won't be doing that most likely ever again. As I have said before Happy, that chapter of my life is done and I am finding my own path like Makarov has always told us to do. And that path no longer is being a mage of Fairy Tail." answered Natsu.

"How do you know that Natsu?" asked Happy with a sad expression.

"Because I have found something else that lets me help more people than I ever have at Fairy Tail Happy. And I really enjoy not ever being told what I should do or how I should act. I know that I would most likely not be treated like that if I came back to Fairy Tail after everything that I've done since leaving. But I still want to see what else the world has in store for me now that I am no longer a mage of Fairy Tail." explained Natsu with a faint smile.

"But your path might lead you back to Fairy Tail right Natsu?" asked Happy still having the same facial expression as before.

"It might Happy, but that won't be for a long time at least. Because I still have a few things that I have to resolve before I could come back, since I really don't want to bring my problems down on the guild." said Natsu as he moved onto a new wyvern.

"Are you talking about whoever you are trying to find?" asked Happy no longer having the sad expression since Natsu said there was still a chance of him returning.

"That I am Happy and I still won't tell you anything about that." replied Natsu, knowing that everyone was really interested in that mystery. Natsu was really regretting that he let that slip in his interview with Jason all those months ago, but there really wasn't much he could do about it now.

"Fine Natsu, but we are all still going to try and bring you back to Fairy Tail, which is still your family." said Happy with a serious expression.

"Why are you all so determined to bring me back? Other mages have left Fairy Tail before, it's not like I am doing something unheard of here?" asked Natsu as he looked at Happy in the eyes.

"True, but none of them loved Fairy Tail as much as you did Natsu." stated Happy.

"You don't know that." argued Natsu as he walked past Happy and went to the final wyvern that still needed his help.

"But I do Natsu, just look at how much you leaving Fairy Tail has affected it. Only someone that truly loves the guild could have had that big of an effect on it, and that is not mentioning how much everyone at the guild loves you Natsu." said Happy as he watched Natsu start healing the last wyvern.

"Still doesn't explain why you all can't just stop trying to bring me back since I have made it very obvious that I don't intend to come back any time soon." said Natsu.

"Because it's not the same without you Natsu, and it will never be until you return." replied Happy.

"Erza said something similar Happy, and I am going to tell you what I told her and that is Fairy Tail is still going to be around even if I am no longer a member." stated Natsu as he finished giving the wyvern his white flames.

"I know that Natsu, which is why I said that it won't be the same without you. I also think that is what Erza was trying to say before, and I also believe for at least the two of us that Fairy Tail won't feel right until you are there with us again." explained Happy with a slight frown.

"That is kind of really shitty thing to dump on someone." stated Natsu with a frown.

"Sorry Natsu but it's the truth." replied Happy.

"Why does everything I do have to become so complicated?" shouted Natsu in anger.

"It doesn't have to be Natsu, just come back to Fairy Tail." said Happy with a hopeful smile.

"For the last time Happy I can't, and I am tired of this conversation." replied Natsu in a harsh tone that let Happy know that they were done with Fairy Tail related conversations for at least the next few days.

"So what do you plan to use this castle for Natsu, since you never answered that question?" asked Happy.

"I plan to make this my base of operation from now on, which means you can't tell anyone else about where this island is Happy. And as long as you do that and don't let anyone follow you here you will most likely know where to find me in the future and be able to visit whenever you want." answered Natsu with a big grin.

"Are you serious Natsu?" asked Happy with a huge smile.

"Of course buddy, but that means it has to remain a secret form absolutely everyone." stated Natsu with a serious expression on his face.

"Even Mira and Wendy?" asked Happy with a sly grin.

"Especially those two Happy, they can't seem to keep anything that I tell them a secret." replied Natsu with a grin.

"I promise that this will remain our secret Natsu, but I have a question for you." said Happy with a smile.

"And what is that Happy?" asked Natsu.

"Why is that Wyvern following us?" asked Happy as he pointed to a smaller than normal wyvern that was right behind the two of them.

"Oh he's my new bodyguard or something like that. It's actually what that other wyvern and I were talking about for most of the time in our conversation. He wanted me to have at least five fire wyverns with me at all times, but I managed to talk him down to just one that is the best of the new generation and is willing to learn the common tongue. So that in the future he'll be able to communicate to others that don't speak draconic." answered Natsu with a little grin.

"Then it is safe to guess that those aren't birds up in the sky and are other wyverns just keeping an eye on you." said Happy as he pointed out five shadows in the sky that were circling around them.

"Probably, but you can't blame them since they are really excited that I wasn't a fake like they initially thought. And I am fairly sure that they won't be able to have that many follow me all over Fiore." said Natsu as he looked up at them as well.

"How are you going to bring him with you when you teleport?" asked Happy as he nodded his head towards the wyvern that was following them.

"Haven't really thought that far ahead yet Happy. But now that I am thinking about it I'll just take him with me since he is a fire user as well. Also I probably won't be teleporting as much since he's willing to fly me where ever I want to go and you know how much I enjoy doing that." said Natsu with a fond smile as he remembered all of the times him and Happy would just fly around just for the fun of it.

"Aye Sir!" cheered Happy with his usual smile.

"Do you want to fly us to the castle then Happy?" asked Natsu as he grinned at his best friend.

"Aye Sir!" cheered Happy once again but this time grabbed Natsu and took off towards the castle as fast as he could.

"Man do I miss this buddy." said Natsu as he enjoyed the familiar feeling.

"Me too Natsu." replied Happy as they then started to do some of the aerial maneuvers that they came up with over the years of being partners together. They did this for the next hour and were surprised that some of the wyverns actually joined in with them and showed off their own moves that were very impressive since they were by no means small creatures.

"Why is everything so big?" asked Happy as they were now inside of the castle that was surprisingly still in good condition.

"Well this place has mainly been for dragons Happy and you know how big they are." replied Natsu as he surveyed the castle.

"But then why are there some smaller doors inside of the bigger ones?" asked Happy as he came up to one of the doors that he was talking about.

"That would be for humans to use I guess." said Natsu as he tried to open the door but found out that it was either locked or stuck shut.

"That makes sense, but I didn't think that humans and dragons got along that well in the past." stated Happy.

"You're right Happy, but this place used to belong to Igneel and he was a huge fan of humans. Otherwise I don't know if I would even be here buddy." said Natsu as he looked at all of the other damage that had happened because of the years of neglect.

"Well this place is huge Natsu and will take you forever to fix up." said Happy as he started to fly around in the huge main hall of the castle that they were in.

"But it will definitely be worth it Happy, just look at this place. I bet that it can actually withstand the actual attacks of dragons since it was built by them." said Natsu as he continued to investigate his new home.

"How did they actually build this place?" asked Happy as he flew down to Natsu.

"That I don't know Happy, but they did have magic so that was probably a big part of it." replied Natsu who then noticed that a few more wyverns came to see what was happening in the castle.

"So what are we going to do now that we've found this place?" asked Happy, hoping that they would go back to the intense training that the two of them did while looking for this island.

"Start fixing it up of course." answered Natsu with a grin.

"What?" shouted Happy, dreading that Natsu might be serious about this.

"Don't worry buddy I am pretty sure that we'll have some help." said Natsu as he looked at the wyverns that gathered in the castle with them.

 **In the Council's meeting Chambers:**

"What do you mean you don't know where Commander Dragneel is?" asked a member of the Council.

"Exactly that, Commander Dragneel said that he was going to be gone for a while to try and investigate the Red Right Hand. And also get some more training in that he hasn't been able to do because of making public appearances and training his troops." answered Doranbolt with a bored expression since this was the third time that they had a meeting about Natsu disappearing on them.

"How are you so calm about this Major Doranbolt?" asked a Councilwoman.

"Because there is really nothing I can do about this situation expect for continuing to train our troops like he told me to. And wait for him to show up within the next month like he said he would." replied Doranbolt, who wanted nothing more than to leave this boring meeting.

"You knew about his plans to do this and did nothing to stop him." said a Councilman.

"And what exactly would that be since Commander Dragneel out ranks me?" asked Doranbolt as the glared that the Councilman.

"You could have told us about his plans." replied the Councilman.

"I really saw no purpose in that since none of you would have been able to stop him from doing this." stated Doranbolt with a smirk as a few Councilmembers took offense to that statement.

"Quite everyone." said Chairman Yamamoto, which got the room to quiet down in an instant.

"We are extremely lucky that Commander Dragneel has been doing everything that we wanted him to do up till this point. He continued to train his troops while also still being seen all over Fiore so that no one would be suspicious as to what he was up to." stated Yamamoto.

"And that is exactly why we are upset that he hasn't done anything noteworthy for the last month. The media is already speculating all sorts of things that might have caused Commander Dragneel to disappear like this." pointed out a Councilwoman.

"Especially after that last attempt on his life." said a Councilman.

"It's thanks to that last attempt on his life that we even know about this Red Right Hand organization. And you can't expect him to act like nothing happened when something like that happened to him when he was with his old guild. So we should all have a little more faith in Commander Dragneel and trust that whatever he's doing right now is needed." said Yamamoto.

"How are you two so calm about all of this when we don't know if he's even fine? Or if he'll even make it back in time for the Grand Magic Games?" asked a different Councilman.

"I know that he's fine since I have been training with him and the rest of the Enforcers for the past few months. And during that time I have confirmed for myself that he would easily take the position of the fifth Wizard Saint if not higher." answered Doranbolt with a serious expression.

"I completely agree with you on that Major Doranbolt, but I have also talked with Commander Dragneel about all sorts of things over the past few months. And because of those conversations I know that he would never ditch his troops after everything he's done with them. You are all also forgetting that once we make the announcement at the Grand Magic Games he's no longer required to keep all of this secret and doesn't have to make any more appearances if he doesn't want to." said Chairman Yamamoto.

"But he's not doing those appearances now." stated a Councilwoman.

"That is true but think of the reaction once we reveal to the public that Salamander now has his own division of the Council and will be working directly with us to protect all of Fiore?" asked Chairman Yamamoto with a grin.

"That will be quite the shock." replied a Councilman with his own grin.

"It might be even more important to the public than whatever guild wins this year's Grand Magic Games." said a different Councilman.

"You are probably more correct about that then you probably know." said Chairman Yamamoto with a smirk.

"What do you mean by that Chairman Yamamoto?" asked Doranbolt since he didn't like the smirk that Yamamoto had.

"Oh that your division will be more involved with the games than you probably thought you would be." answered Chairman Yamamoto still smirking.

"You do know how much Commander Dragneel dislikes those games." stated Doranbolt.

"Yes I do Major Doranbolt, but he'll most likely enjoy this more than he's willing to admit. Besides what I have planned is going to show all of Fiore the power of our new division and make them think twice before messing with the Enforcers." said Chairman Yamamoto.

"You still haven't explained what we're going to be doing at the games." pointed out Doranbolt with a scowl.

"Well that is because I am still working with the king about all of this." replied Chairman Yamamoto.

"I have a feeling that even if it was all figured out you still wouldn't tell me." stated Doranbolt.

"You're right since I would want to personally give this news to Commander Dragneel myself." said Chairman Yamamoto with his usual smile.

"Is there any reason for me to be here anymore, or can I finally go back to my troop? That I apparently need to start training for these upcoming games." asked Doranbolt as he got up knowing the answer already.

"No you are free to go Major Doranbolt since you've told us everything that you know about Commander Dragneel and his whereabouts." answered Chairman Yamamoto, as Doranbolt gave them a bow and then left the chambers.

"I don't know how you have so much faith in Commander Dragneel Chairman Yamamoto? Just a year ago he was causing the council tons of problems with all of the destruction that he left in his wake." stated one of the Councilmen.

"I just have a good feeling about him, and only time will tell if I have made a terrible mistake. Or possibly done one of the best decisions that the Council has ever done in its last three versions." replied Chairman Yamamoto, who then decided to carry on with the other topics of the meeting which were all very boring when compared to Natsu Dragneel.

 **At Fairy Tail:**

"It's like he's completely disappeared." stated Lucy as let her head hit the table.

"Have you guys been trying to find Salamander after the latest disaster of hanging out with him?" asked Gajeel with a grin as Levy started to hit him for saying that out loud. Since a few of the girls still felt terrible about it and only felt worse since Mira was no longer her happy usual self like she usually was, which meant that things between her and Natsu probably weren't in the best of conditions.

"No we haven't Gajeel, but I have been looking for any new news about him in all of the magazines. And after that attempt on his life there hasn't been a single new story about him at all, not even someone seeing him walking through their town." replied Lucy as she glared at Gajeel.

"Well it's kind of expected after Salamander is now thinking that all of this crap is his fault." stated Gajeel as Levy continued to hit him and telling him to keep his mouth shut.

"Why do you say that Gajeel?" asked Lucy who was surprised to hear that from Gajeel since he wasn't even there.

"Shrimp here told me all about it Bunny Girl, so of course Salamander is going to take all of the blame after you girls thought that he was capable of doing something like that. I know that you all think he's completely different now, but Salamander is still the same person that you've all known for years. He's now going to be thinking that there was no way anyone could have ever noticed what was happening with him before, so Salamander is probably sorting through all of that bullshit right now. I just hope he realizes that he's completely wrong about it being his fault, which he'll probably realize eventually because of that cat of his." explained Gajeel who was definitely making his opinion on things heard more often than before Natsu left.

"I never once thought he was capable of doing that." said Lucy as she continued to glare at Gajeel.

"You might not have Bunny Girl but enough of you did that it obviously started to make Salamander start questioning himself. And I unfortunately think that someone he never thought would think that about him might have thought it for just a second which hurt him more than anything else could have." replied Gajeel while frowning and looking over at Mira who was cleaning a glass without her usual cheery smile.

"She barely smiles anymore." stated Lucy as she now had her own frown.

"I don't know if they are communicating with each other like they used do." stated Levy as she also looked at Mira feeling sorry for her but didn't know how to help her.

"They had a way to communicate with each other?" asked Lucy as she turned to Levy.

"I would assume so since she knew things about him that I have a feeling that the only other person who might have known them was Wendy. And we know that she's never going to tell us about any of that stuff." replied Levy with a sigh since these were things that she couldn't help with.

"You'd be correct about that." said Wendy as she dropped into the booth that they were all in.

"Which part?" asked Lucy forgetting that Wendy usually pretends to not even hear her.

"All of it." answered Wendy with a frown, which shocked the other two there since she wasn't ignoring Lucy. They both thought that it might have to do with how angry Lucy got about the other girls doubting Natsu just a month ago, but they couldn't be too sure about that.

"So you two can call Natsu?" asked Lucy excited that Wendy wasn't ignoring her anymore.

"Yea, that is how I know that Mira and Natsu have only talked maybe four times since that incident. And Mira only called him because Master wanted to try and figure out more about what exactly was going on." replied Wendy still having a frown on her face.

"That's more than anyone else." stated Lucy.

"They used to talk every night." said Wendy.

"Then why did they stop?" asked Levy.

"When Mira first called him she could tell that he didn't want to talk with her even though he didn't say it." replied Wendy.

"How in the world could she tell that?" asked Lucy, wondering how Natsu would go about that.

"He pretty much talked to her without any of the emotions that he usually has when you are talking with him." answered Wendy.

"Why would Natsu do that, doesn't he know how much she is hurting because of that?" asked Lucy now a little angry at Natsu.

"No he doesn't Bunny Girl, because like I said earlier Salamander is probably questioning everything about himself right now and isn't thinking about others for once in his life. All because some of his closest friends thought he was actually capable of let the rest of you die as if it was nothing. And if she was one of them I really can't blame him for starting to question everything." answered Gajeel while shaking his head.

"Why does Mira doubting him for a little bit mean so much?" asked Lucy.

"It's a dragon slayer thing Lucy, but thank Mavis that Happy is with him. Otherwise I don't know if he would actually stay the same Natsu that we know and love." said Wendy as she continued to watch Mira go about her job like usual. Except for the fact that she was no longer smiling at anyone which everyone noticed but didn't know how to help her since her siblings couldn't do anything to bring back her smile.

"Then what are we going to do to fix this?" asked Lucy as she looked at the rest of the people in their booth.

"The only thing that we can Lucy, which is sit back and wait for Happy to get Natsu over this whole thing." replied Wendy.

"How are we going to know when that happens?" asked Lucy, since she really didn't like how Mira had been acting recently.

"You'll know when Mira goes back to normal." answered Wendy.

"I really hope that Happy can get Natsu to do it quick, because Mira isn't the only one that is upset about what happened at Sorcerer's Weekly." said Lucy as she looked over at Erza who had been spending most of the last month alone and doing small jobs by herself.

"Happy should probably have it done any time now." informed Wendy as she too looked over at Erza and felt bad for her.

"How in the world do you know that?" asked Lucy.

"Happy had a communication lacrima with him before he left, and he uses it to call Carla every night to just let her know that he's alright. And we've had a few conversations because of that, and he's even called Mira with it as well." responded Wendy with a slight grin.

"And what does Carla think about that getting a call every night?" asked Lucy now having her own slight grin.

"She pretends that she doesn't like it, but I can tell she likes knowing that he's alright." replied Wendy now having a real grin.

"Has Salamander's cat told you anything else interesting?" asked Gajeel as he tossed a few pieces of scrap metal into his mouth.

"They have just been doing a lot of training while looking for some island that is supposed to contain something important for Natsu. Or something like that, you know how Happy is when he's telling a story. Nothing is very interesting to him unless it's a fish or fish related." answered Wendy.

"Do you know what the name of the island was that they were looking for Wendy?" asked Levy.

"Happy mentioned that it was called Fire Island, but he only told me that since he was concerned that there might not be any fish here because of the name." said Wendy while shaking her head at Happy's train of thought.

"Do you know if they've found it yet?" asked Levy as she grabbed Wendy and made her look at her.

"Sorry Levy but I don't know, the last time I talked with Happy was two days ago and they were still looking for it then. But why are you so interested in it after hearing the name of the island?" asked Wendy as she pulled away from Levy.

"Because that is the location of the castle for the Fire King, and if Natsu is looking for it he might be trying to unit his kingdom." explained Levy with excitement in her eyes at the mere thought of Natsu doing that.

"Settle down Shrimp, Salamander is probably not doing anything like that." said Gajeel with a grin at how excited Levy was getting at this news.

"But what if he is actually is trying to do it Gajeel. It would mean that big changes are going to be happening in the near future, not to mention that some of the other elemental kings might follow his lead." said Levy excitedly at the prospect of being there to witness history in the making.

"This is all just guesses right now Shrimp, that you'll have to talk to Salamander about to confirm." replied Gajeel still grinning at her.

"Do you think Natsu might even start accepting fire mages into his kingdom?" asked Levy as she looked at Gajeel for an answer.

"How the hell would I know that Shirmp, since we still don't even know if Salamander is actually trying to rebuild his kingdom or not." answered Gajeel while shaking his head at Levy.

"What about Flame Brain's Kingdom?" asked Grey as he and Juvia came over to them.

"Levy here is freaking out about Natsu possibly rebuilding the Fire Kingdom just because he's looking for the island where his castle is at." replied Lucy with a smile, as Levy glared at her for making fun of her.

"I can't help it that I find all of this very interesting, and so should the rest of you since this could change the world in all sorts of ways." said Levy.

"How so Levy?" asked Juvia as she sat down with them.

"Well first off it would most likely mean the formation of a new country. And just because they would only start out as a small island doesn't mean that they should be looked down on. Especially since Natsu has the potential to get all of the creatures that use fire under his command, which would make them a very strong nation. And we also know how strong fire is. So just imagine a whole army of creatures and humans that are using it, which would mean that Natsu could have an almost unlimited source of magic at his disposal." explained Levy, which seemed to finally sink into the group listening to her.

"He'd be almost impossible to stop." said Grey while shaking his head at the thought of Natsu not running out of magic.

"Do you really think that other fire mages would actually join him?" asked Lucy, who didn't want to picture Natsu leading an army. Because all she could imagine remaining in the wake of that army was nothing but the ashes of their enemies.

"I do Lucy, just look at how popular he is right now. Just imagine what would happen if the media found out that he was the Fire King. I'd imagine that he'd get followers even if he didn't want them." answered Levy with a grin because of the mental image she had of Natsu chasing off other fire mages that just wanted to be near him.

"Once again Shrimp all of this is just fantasy since you have no idea what Salamander is actually doing. For all we know he just wants to see if Igneel left him anything there." stated Gajeel who wanted to try and not have this become a rumor being spread about Natsu.

"You're probably right Gajeel." replied Levy with a frown.

"So back to the real reason why Juvia and I came over here, what are we going to do about those two?" asked Grey as he pointed to Erza and Mira.

"Juvia was hoping that they would both get over it after a while, but it's only gotten worse over time." said Juvia with a frown.

"Natsu coming back for a visit would probably be the best way to fix this, but I really doubt that he would be willing to do that anytime soon." stated Lucy.

"All he needs to do for Mira is just talk to her like he used to do." said Wendy as she got out a communication lacrima.

"Who are you calling Wendy?" asked Levy.

"Happy, because I can't wait any longer for him to get Natsu to talk with Mira again." replied Wendy as she set the communication lacrima on the center of the table.

"Why is there a picture of a fish?" asked Grey as a fish was being displayed above the communication lacrima.

"That's Happy's icon." answered Wendy while rolling her eyes.

"Figures he'd have that, does he ever think about anything other than Fish, Carla, and Natsu?" asked Lucy, who realized that she really missed Natsu and Happy annoying her like they used to do every day.

"I really don't think so." replied Wendy just as Happy's face appeared where the fish used to be.

"Hey Wendy, what's up?" asked Happy with a big smile.

"Have you talked to Natsu about calling Mira?" asked Wendy.

"Oh sorry Wendy but I forgot about that and was talking to him about the last attempt on his life like Mira wanted me to." said Happy with a sheepish grin.

"Happy we talked about it only two days ago." said Wendy as she glared at Happy.

"Sorry Wendy but Natsu and I went fishing while we were looking for that island he wanted to find so I kind of forgot about it yesterday." replied Happy with a smile.

"Then why did you forget about it today Happy?" asked Wendy as she continued to glare at the exceed.

"I can't tell you that Wendy." said Happy as he then turned around so the back of his head was facing Wendy.

"Well then that means Carla will no longer be receiving any of your calls since this is her communication lacrima." stated Wendy with a devious grin as Happy's face turned to one of complete horror.

"You wouldn't." said Happy as he turned to look at Wendy.

"Just try me Happy, and that would be a real shame since she actually enjoys you calling her every night." stated Wendy as she went to turn off the lacrima.

"Wait, I'll tell you Wendy but you can't tell anyone else. We finally found it Wendy and as we made our way to the castle we were attacked by a pack of wyverns. And you should have seen how easily Natsu handled them; it only took about five minutes for him to deal with more than fifteen of them. But that isn't even the craziest part of the day, because right after beating them Natsu had a conversation with one of them and now they are all following him because he's the next Fire King." said Happy really fast, not even letting Wendy warn him that pretty much everyone in the guild could hear him. And it was obvious to everyone that Happy really wanted to tell someone about all of this because he somehow got all of that out without pausing for a breath at all.

"Happy you're on speaker right now." stated Wendy with her hand covering her face.

"Please tell me you're in your room alone at Fairy Hills?" asked Happy with a slightly scared look.

"Nope, still at the guild." said Wendy as she realized that pretty much everyone in the guild started to listen to their booth once Happy's head appeared.

"Oh no Natsu is now going to eat all of my fish since I told everyone." said Happy as he started to panic about all of the fish that he was going to lose.

"Where is Natsu?" asked Mira who was now right next to Wendy.

"He's out back right now fighting a Wyvern for fun since we both got tired of fixing up his castle." said Happy who then realized that he was once again giving way secrets so he covered his mouth with his paws.

"Happy Natsu won't be mad as long as you don't give away the location of the island." said Levy with a smile as she could instantly see Happy relax at hearing that.

"If that's the case then what else do you guys want to know?" asked Happy with his usual smile.

"Is he trying to unite his kingdom?" asked Levy before anyone else could even come up with a question.

"He told me that he doesn't plan to, but he does plan to use this place as his base of operation in the future. But I think he's going to start uniting his kingdom without even trying because it's just something that I think is going to happen." replied Happy as he got out a fish and started to eat it.

"Is Natsu back to his usual self?" asked Wendy as she looked at Mira who was too afraid to ask any more questions.

"Aye Sir! He just needed a little time and someone to remind him who he was, and the fights that he got into today really helped." answered Happy with a fish in his mouth, but everyone could still understand him since he would talk like this all the time.

"Does he happen to know more about the attempt on his life?" asked Makarov as he sat down on the table.

"Yep, it's some very secret organization that goes by the Red Right Hand. And they don't mess around about keeping themselves secret. According to Natsu the few times that he's tracked down a person that knows anything about the group; they are killed by some sort of spell that was put on them earlier to prevent them from telling anything about the organization." explained Happy, which shocked all of Fairy Tail since that was a very extreme way of keeping your group secret.

"I might have to start doing that with my secrets." came the voice of Natsu from behind Happy. Who froze in complete fear because he was just caught red handed at giving away Natsu's secrets.

"Did you hear that Natsu, Carla needs me?" asked Happy as he flew up out of the view of the communication lacrima.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh man it never gets old doing that to him. Hey guys what's up?" asked Natsu as he sat down in Happy's old spot and smiled at them through the communication lacrima.

"We were all just really concerned about you Natsu." said Makarov since everyone else were stunned that Natsu looked happy to be talking with the whole guild.

"Come on Makarov, you know that I can take care of myself. So how is the guild, haven't been attacked again have you?" asked Natsu with a concerned look.

"No we haven't been Natsu, but otherwise we're fine except for most of us missing you." stated Makarov with a smile since he and Natsu haven't talked for a really long time.

"That's good to hear you guys are fine and I am really sorry about this whole leaving thing. But it's the path that I am now walking on Makarov and I honestly am having fun finding out where it's going to lead me." replied Natsu with a sad smile.

"You do know that you will always be welcomed here." said Makarov with a small smile.

"Thanks Makarov, and I will be sure to visit more often but I don't think I will be joining anytime soon." said Natsu with his usual grin.

"Why not Natsu?" asked Erza in a quiet voice after she somehow made her way over to them without anyone noticing her.

"One of the main reasons now is that I am tied up with my own little project, and I will have to stick with it for at least a year. But that will all be revealed to the public in about a month so don't even try to ask me what that project is, and I will save you guys the time by telling you right now that even Mira, Wendy and Happy don't know this one. Another reason is that apparently the Red Right Hand has taken an interest in me and I don't want to bring you guys in on that, just look at what happened last time. And that was only their first attempt, I am actually a little concerned at what they are going to do for their next one." explained Natsu as he ran his hand through his hair a few times.

"The last one is more of a reason to join a different guild if you still don't want to return to Fairy Tail. It would make it harder for them to take you out if you have friends fighting with you." pointed out Mira.

"True Mira, but you saw that they were willing to take you guys and threaten to kill you right in front of me. That is actually another reason why I have been laying low for a while now, and I know that you are going to say that you all can take care of yourselves which I know you guys can. I am actually counting on that since I am out on my own right now and they could still come after you all, but the odds of that are lower since I am no longer a member. And that show we put on for them last time was pretty dam convincing so I think it probably won't happen as long as you guys don't try to find out more about the Red Right Hand." said Natsu with a slight frown since they were talking about the guilds safety.

"Natsu I am so sorry about that." said Erza with her head down.

"Hey Erza, it's okay. Actually I am pretty positive that because of your reaction they might have actually believed what I was saying to be true. Otherwise I am sure that they would have figured out that I was just acting, so don't feel bad. Also I now have a new career that I could go into if I don't want to be a mage anymore, just think about it. Salamander the next big movie start that doesn't need any stupid extra effects added to make him look badass." said Natsu with his usual grin that instantly caused most of the guild to start smiling.

"That sounds like a terrible job for you Natsu." said Erza with a faint smile.

"Yea Natsu, who would even want to watch you at all." stated Grey with a grin because he could already tell that the atmosphere of the guild was already getting better.

"Grey I'm pretty sure that it would be a hit even if Natsu was a terrible actor." argued Lucy.

"Why in world are you saying that?" asked Grey as he raised an eyebrow at Lucy.

"Just look at how popular he is right now, people are paying tons just to get clothes that he has approved of. So it's not that farfetched to think that people would pay to watch him in some sort of romantic comedy." explained Lucy.

"Who in the world said anything about a romantic comedy?" asked Cana.

"I thought that he would be in an action film with tons of explosions and fire, you know something Manly." stated Elfman.

"He'd just eat the flames if he was on one of those types of films." pointed out Romeo with a big smile.

"That's why he'd have to do drama." argued Lisanna, who had a smile on her face because everyone was starting to go back to normal just because of one little conversation with Natsu. This became the topic of the guild for the next hour and even after that it would come up every once now and a while, and was probably going to stay that way until Natsu actually did a film.

"HAHAHAHA it's good to see that the guild still gets worked up over nothing." stated Natsu with a fond smile on his face as the rest of the guild continued to discuss which type of movie he should be in.

"Glad to see that you are able to keep smiling like you used to my boy." said Makarov as he looked at the projection of Natsu.

"Come on Makarov, it's going to take more than that to bring me down." replied Natsu as he grinned at him.

"So when do you think that you might come and visit again Natsu-nii?" asked Wendy with a hopeful expression on her face.

"When would you like me to?" asked Natsu as his grin got bigger.

"I would love it if you could come tomorrow but I know that would be asking a lot." replied Wendy as she hung her head thinking that he was too busy for that.

"Sounds good to me." replied Natsu, shocking everyone still listening.

"Do you really mean it Natsu-nii?" asked Wendy with an excited smile.

"Why wouldn't I Wendy, Mira you still have a few of those lacrimas that I gave you right?" asked Natsu, assuming that Mira was still there.

"Yes I do Natsu." replied Mira with a faint smile.

"Then there is no reason I can't come by for a visit tomorrow." stated Natsu.

"Thank you Natsu-nii!" cheered Wendy excitedly.

"But what about Happy?" asked Erza, who was surprised that Natsu was actually coming back this soon after what happened.

"He'll stay here with his own lacrima so I can get back once I am done visiting." answered Natsu as if that should have been obvious.

"And he's completely fine with that?" asked Mira now with an actual smile.

"Ask him for yourself." said Natsu as he turned the communication lacrima so they could see Happy eating a fish on the table with a large smile.

"Happy are you fine with being left behind?" asked Mira, hoping that he would be.

"Aye Sir! The fish here are the best and if Natsu leaves that means the wyverns and I can go fishing all day!" cheered Happy.

"I really don't know if they are going to want to do that with you buddy." said Natsu as he turned the lacrima so they could see him again.

"Why wouldn't they Natsu, fishing is the best thing ever because you get fish." said Happy from the side.

"I kind of want to see you trying to convince them to go fishing with you, I can only imagine it going terribly." stated Natsu with a smirk.

"No it won't, just you wait and see Natsu. Once you come back this place will be filled with fish and you won't be able to have any of them." shouted Happy as he took flight and flew to who knows where.

"There you go Mira; he's completely fine with it and is now going to be trying to teach wyverns how to fish with a fishing pole. And before I forget could you try and keep this visit secret since I don't want the Red Right Hand to start focusing on you guys because of me." said Natsu as he shook his head at the image of Happy trying to teach wyverns how to fish.

"Of course we can Natsu, but I don't think you need to worry about them that much. We can still take care of ourselves Natsu." replied Mira as she gave him a little glare.

"I know Mira, but this group isn't like anything else I have ever encountered before. So I want to error on the safe side of things if possible." stated Natsu.

"So what are you doing with that castle of yours Natsu?" asked Mira, completely forgetting that they weren't alone like they usually were when they talked with each other.

"I plan on fixing her up first, and that is going to take a lot of time since it would appear that no one has used this place for years. After that I might use this place as my home for a while, which will be nice since I won't have to worry about anyone attacking me in my sleep." replied Natsu with a small grin.

"I wouldn't get too relaxed Natsu, they could still find you on that island." said Mira, concerned that Natsu would be attacked while he was sleeping.

"I won't Mira, you are forgetting about my enhanced senses. Also if anyone does find this island then they will first have to deal with a bunch of pissed off fire wyverns. And if they are able to handle that then they will have to deal with a pissed of dragon slayer." stated Natsu.

"So they really are following you now?" asked Mira.

"Unfortunately yes, it was pretty much the only way that I could get to use this place without fighting them every day that I use this place." answered Natsu.

"But why did you have to use that place?" she asked, hoping he would go further into detail.

"I wanted to see if Igneel left anything interesting here, also it is kind of awesome to have your own castle and island. There is also another reason that I wanted to use this place, and it is because it is technically not part of any country since no one knows about it." he replied with his usual grin.

"And why does it not belonging to any country matter?" asked Makarov with a grin, glad to see Mira actually smiling.

"Mainly because it's going to be a lot harder to find if no one knows where it's at or what country it's technically in." replied Natsu.

"But won't that make you doing whatever you've doing so far harder since you'll have to keep returning to this island of yours?" asked Makarov seeing that as a big problem.

"Not at all Makarov, I know you want me to go into more detail of why it isn't but I still have to keep some secrets to myself. Especially since the three people that I have told my other secrets to seem to always accidentally reveal them to Fairy Tail, which then means it's only a matter of time till the rest of Fiore knows." he replied while having a sly grin on his face.

"Well I'll just have to talk with you once you drop by tomorrow." said Makarov with a smile as he got up and stretched.

"I'd enjoy that Makarov and there are a few things that I have learned while traveling that I think you might find interesting." stated Natsu with a serious face.

"Are these things that should be discussed in my office?" inquired Makarov.

"Some of them would probably be better discussed between just the two of us." replied Natsu.

"If that is the case Natsu, then we will have this conversation in my office tomorrow when you have some free time. So I will be leaving now so the two of you can catch up with each other." said Makarov with a grin directed at Mira, who didn't even notice since she was already talking with Natsu. Makarov couldn't help but chuckle at how happy Mira was just from being able to talk to Natsu again like normal. And Makarov wasn't the only one happy to see this; pretty much everyone else in the guild noticed this and decided to not interrupt their conversation for numerous reasons. Also a few of the members didn't mind listening in on this, all in the hopes of hearing something juicy that they could possibly save for later.

 **One Month Later:** **The opening day of the Grand Magic Games**

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen. My names Chapati Lola and I will be your main announcer for Grand Magic Games this year. And oh boy is this year going to be a nail biter, will Fairy Tail maintain number one this year or will Sabretooth claim the title once again." said Chapati into his microphone as the crowds erupted into cheers for their favorite guild.

"You can't count out any of the other guilds Chapati." said Yajima, who was sitting right next to Chapati with his own microphone.

"I couldn't agree with you more Yajima; all of the other guilds have been training for this day all year long. That is why this year's going to be one of the best years ever. Now I know you are all wondering if we are going to be seeing the Salamander participating on one of the teams, unfortunately I have to report that he still hasn't joined a guild so he won't be joining in on the fun." announced Chapati, causing the crowd to become a little sad since most of them were hoping to see the famous mage fighting again like last time.

"So who is going to be our special announcer for the day?" asked Yajima as he looked over at his fellow announcer.

"Now this is where things get interesting Yajima, since even I don't know who that is going to be yet and that isn't the only thing being kept secret from us this year. Apparently there are supposed to be surprises all throughout the games that will only be revealed to us moments before the rest of Fiore finds out." said Chapati with a grin.

"Do you have any idea what these secrets involve?" asked Yajima with an eyebrow raised.

"Not a clue, but the first one has just been given to me and that is the list of eight guilds that made it through the Preliminary Event this year. And for those that don't know what that event was, it was another maze this year but this time with monsters and traps scattered all over it." stated Chapati.

"These new additions were done to better test the participating teams on their teamwork, fighting and many other skills needed to be ranked the top guild in Fiore." explained Yajima.

"I was told that half of the teams were taken out by either the traps or the monsters, which shows how tough it was this year. Now on to the moment you've all been waiting for, here are the eight teams that are fighting for the number one position this year." said Chapati, which got the whole arena cheering so loud that no one could hear him even with his voice being amplified. This lasted for a minute, until the spectators quieted down so that Chapati could continue.

"In eighth place we have Twilight Ogre!" announced Chapati and only a few people in the crowd cheered at hearing this as the team entered the arena.

"At the last Grand Magic Games they were eliminated by Team A of Fairy Tail. So I can only imagine that they are hoping to prove that was just a mistake." said Yajima, causing a few people in the crowd to chuckle at the memory or the thought of them beating Fairy Tail.

"I know I love it when there is a rivalry between two guilds since it only makes the events more exciting. Now onto seventh place we have Blue Pegasus!" announced Chapati as a good chunk of the crowd cheered at the news as the same team as last year came in except for the bunny was replaced with Jenny.

"That means they dropped two positions from last time, but it's only the preliminary event so they aren't down any points yet." stated Yajima.

"Sixth place goes to Quatro Cerberus!" announced Chapati as most of the men in the crowd started to cheer as the team from Quarto Cerberus entered the arena and started to pump up the crowd.

"As you can see they are really excited to be a position higher this year." pointed out Yajima as the team continued to get the crowd cheering for them.

"The crowd sure seems to love them but we need to move on to the next team. In fifth place we have the beautiful women of Mermaid Heel!" shouted Chapati with more enthusiasm than any of the previous teams. And as they came out the whole crowd where on their feet cheering for the girls that proved last year that they were definitely not to be looked down on. It also helped that they were all gorgeous, which was never a bad thing to have for getting a crowd cheering for you.

"Not much for me to say about them, except for the fact that I hope we get a duel between Kagura and Erza this year." said Yajima, confident that Fairy Tail was definitely going to be competing this year.

"I couldn't agree with you more on that one Yajima. On to the fourth team fighting for title of number one guild in Fiore we have Lamia Scale!" announced Chapati as the crowd remained standing from cheering for Mermaid Heel and continued to cheer for the new team. And just like all of the other teams so far, they kept the same team as the last Grand Magic Games.

"Having a Wizard Saint on your team definitely makes you a force to be reckoned with. But I have a feeling that Jura is happy that Natsu isn't participating this year, since their last fight ended with Natsu being declared the victor." said Yajima as he smiled down at Jura who only smirked back up at him. Not at all being affected by the jab at him, and was actually a little disappointed to not have a rematch with Natsu during the Grand Magic Games.

"It looks to me that you might have that one backwards Yajima, I'd have to say that Jura is disappointed that Salamander isn't participating this time. But that is something we can discuss in between fights, moving on to third place we have Sabretooth!" shouted Chapati as the crowd once again erupted into cheers as the team came out. The only difference from their last team was Sting was now replaced by Minerva since he could no longer participate because of being a Master.

"I am surprised that they are in third place, which begs the question what guilds are in the top two places. I would also like to point out that we unfortunately won't be seeing the dual dragon slayers since Sting is now the Master of Sabretooth." said Yajima as the crowd realized that an unknown guild was in one of the top two places.

"In second place we have the current holders of the title, Fairy Tail!" shouted Chapati as the crowd erupted to the loudest cheers so far. As they entered the arena the team was revealed to contain: Gajeel, Laxus, Erza, Mira, and Grey, all of them with proud grins on their faces as they looked up at the crowd cheering for them.

"As you can see they are the crowd favorite, even without Salamander on their team they are going to be the team to beat. But this makes me even more curious at what guild was able to take first place in the preliminary event." stated Yajima as the entire arena quieted down to hear what guild came out of nowhere and took first.

"Let's find out shall we, and in first place we have wait that can't be right." stated Chapati as he read the name off of the card and the info along with it. The whole arena started to whisper with each other about what Chapati meant by that, because last time it happened was when Fairy Tail had two teams make it.

"Please wait one moment everyone as we have this checked out, because if this is true this year is definitely going to be one to remember. And while we wait I would like to announce our special announcer for the day, he's someone that all of Fiore knows and loves and has been on the cover of every magazine for the past few months. NATSU DRAGNEEL ALSO KNOWN AS THE SALAMDER!" shouted Chapati as the arena cheered at the announcement, but quieted down moments later after Natsu didn't appear. And just when people were thinking that he wasn't going to show a roar was heard coming from the skies above the arena as a spec in the sky started to get bigger and bigger.

The whole arena looked up and was amazed when they saw that it was a fire wyvern diving down at them, and just before people started to panic. The wyvern pulled out of its dive and swooped back up and it landed on the roof of where Yajima and Chapati where announcing the games from. It then lifted its head towards the sky and let out another roar that reminded most of the contestants of what happened at the end of the last games.

"Hello Fiore, I am excited to be one of your announcers for the day!" shouted Natsu in his white suit after he hopped off of the back of the wyvern that then laid down behind him. The whole arena erupted in an ear deafening cheer at Natsu's entrance and also for the fact of him actually being there, while that was happening he flipped over the ledge and landed gracefully in his seat with the assistance of his flames.

"That was quite the entrance Natsu." said Yajima with a grin.

"HAHAHAHA I have always loved making them as big as possible." replied Natsu as he took off his blazer and hat.

"So I am going to get straight to the question that everyone is asking Natsu, and that is why and how are you riding a fire wyvern?" asked Chapati as he looked at Natsu, surprised that he was actually sitting there with them.

"It's a long story, but to sum it up as quickly as possible. You could consider him as my bodyguard that is willing to fly me around whenever needed and fight with me as well." answered Natsu.

"How did you accomplish that?" asked Yajima, who knew that wyverns weren't creatures that anyone could easily tame.

"I beat him and the rest of his group in a fight so now he's sworn to protect me with his life." replied Natsu with a smug grin.

"Flame Brain can't go anywhere anymore without making a big scene can he?" mumbled Grey to Erza who only smiled at the comment.

"Grey don't make me come down there and put you into the infirmary before these games even start." threatened Natsu as he glared at Grey, who forgot how Natsu could pretty much hear anything in his eyesight.

"I'd like to see you try." he taunted back while grinning up at him.

"Oh it's so on Ice Princess!" shouted Natsu and was about to jump down until Yajima grabbed his arm.

"Sorry Natsu but you can't go down there since you are an announcer." said Yajima with a grin.

"You got lucky this time Grey, so what were you saying before Grey interrupted us?" asked Natsu as he looked over at Chapati.

"I didn't interrupt you Ash for Brains, you happened to hear what I whispered to Erza!" shouted Grey as he glared at Natsu, who completely ignored him which only mad Grey angrier.

"I was asking you Natsu if you had any predictions for the games this year." said Chapati since Natsu was ignoring Grey.

"Well I am actually torn on that Chapati, everyone knows that I have a soft spot for my old guild. But the group that took first place in the preliminary event this year is a group of people that I believe should be able to win any fight they are put into. Since I have to make a choice I will have to go with Fairy Tail since I am pretty sure that it is impossible for the other group to win because of certain rules and regulations that are in place." said Natsu which confused most of the people listening.

"Wait, you know who too first place Natsu?" asked Yajima as he eyed Natsu cautiously.

"Yes I do Yajima, but I am not going to reveal who they are or how I know them since it's the main job of Chapati to announce the teams." replied Natsu with his usual grin.

"What the hell is going on Natsu?" shouted Grey as all of the other contestants looked up at him wanting to hear the answer to Grey's question.

"It'll all be explained in just a few seconds everyone." answered Natsu with a bigger grin on his face as a person was whispering with Chapati about something.

"Alright everyone, we've just confirmed that everything on my card was correct to begin with. So without further ado our group taking first place this year in the preliminary event are the Enforcers!" announced Chapati as the crowd remained completely silent as the team entered the arena. The crowd was shocked to see that the whole team was in uniforms that had the head of a red dragon with the Council's seal in its mouth.

"Savage is that you?" asked Erza as Savage made her way with the rest of her team to their position.

"Hello Erza, it's nice to meet you again." replied Savage with a grin. Erza was about to ask a question but was cut off by Chapati, explaining exactly what was going on.

"To explain where the confusion came from, the Enforcers are not a guild at all. They are actually a new division of the Council made to bring order to all magic guilds across the country, which includes both light and dark guilds. And before you start arguing about this the Chairman of the council would like to say a few words." said Chapati as the Chairman walked into the arena with his own squad of Rune Knights.

"Hello Fiore, my name is Isamu Yamamoto and as Chapati said I am the Chairman of the Council. I want to say how proud I am that our country is proud of our mages enough to keep these games going and celebrate all the hard work that these guilds do for our country. But as older versions of the Council have shown, dealing with guilds is a very tricky thing which is why we have decided to form the Enforcers. A group of elite mages working to rid our beautiful country of dark guilds and keeping order amongst the legal ones, so the Council decided that the best time to announce the formation of this new division would be at the Grand Magic Games." explained Yamamoto with his usual smile. As everyone there were still completely thrown off by all of this information.

"As for them competing in the games you don't have to fear about them getting any special treatment, just look at them as any other guild you are going against. But since they are not actually a guild they are actually unable to get any points." stated Yamamoto with the same smile.

"Then what is the point of them even participating Chairman Yamamoto?" asked Yajima.

"I am glad that you asked that Yajima, they are participating to show Fiore what they are capable of and what all of those months of training where able to produce. And this is only a small fraction of their true force, which we would like to present to you all right now, Major Doranbolt." stated Yamamoto, a second later two hundred and twenty one mages appeared in the middle of the arena behind the teams that were lined up. They were all wearing the same uniforms as the Enforcers team but had their helmets on and lined up like you would expect a military group to be when at a ceremony.

"We're ready to serve Chairman Yamamoto." said Doranbolt who was the only one without his helmet on.

"And the Council and Fiore are lucky to have you on our side, you're all dismissed now." said Yamamoto expecting all of them to relax, which was not the case since they all stayed at attention.

"I am sure that everyone would like to know who is leading this new division that has been kept a secret until now?" asked Chapati as he looked at all of the mages standing there ready to do as commanded.

"I would have to guess that it is Doranbolt." stated Yajima.

"That was a good guess Yajima, he's actually second in command after the person Chairman Yamamoto specifically had in mind for running this division." said Natsu with a grin on his face, right before he jumped down to the arena and then made his way to Yamamoto.

"What in the world are you doing Natsu?" asked Chapati, which was the question on everyone's mind as they watched him.

"Enforcers you're dismissed." said Natsu.

"Yes Sir Commander Dragneel." replied all of the Enforcers together as they gave him a salute and then filled out of the arena in an orderly fashion.

"What the hell was that?" asked Grey, not believing what he just saw.

"I'd like to present to you all, the Commander of the Enforcement Division and Head Enforcrer, Natsu Dragneel." said Yamamoto as he and Natsu couldn't help but smile at all of the shocked faces. That was soon followed by everyone talking to each other about the shocking news that no one expected, and it was getting louder and louder until Natsu let out a roar to quiet down everyone.

"Okay everyone I am going to answer the main question that everyone is asking, no this is not a joke. I am actually now working for the Council, which I myself didn't see happening until Chairman Yamamoto and I had a long conversation with each other. But all of the other questions can wait and I will happily answer them in between the matches of these games that are supposed to be starting right now. Oh and Enforcers you don't need to be in your uniforms for this, also I expect all of you to not give out any points today." said Natsu.

"Yes Commander Dragneel." replied the five of them as they gave him a quick salute and then took off to their booth to get changed into their usual clothing.

"Now that all of that is out of the way let's start these games." shouted Natsu who then appeared back up in the announcers' box with Chapati and Yajima.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. So there you have it, the start of the GMG that I am going to have some fun with and show a few of the OC's off a little more. But don't worry this is all still leading to something that is going to be happening later on. So once again I don't have much to say except for I am still open to event ideas for the GMG, otherwise as always feel free to leave me a review or PM and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	31. Day one of the Grand Magic Games

Chapter 31: Day one of the GMG

"Now that all of that is out of the way let's start these games." shouted Natsu who then appeared back up in the announcers' box with Chapati and Yajima.

"You are correct Natsu, so would all of the teams please head back to their booths so we can prepare the first event of these games." announced Chapati, as the shocked teams did what he asked of them.

"So Natsu I am sure that everyone is wondering how working for the Council came about?" asked Yajima.

"Well like I said before I didn't plan for this to happen, but after I did that photoshoot for my clothing line Chairman Yamamoto proposed this whole thing to me. And after a few hours of working out the details we reached an agreement that made both of us very happy." answered Natsu as he leaned back in his chair.

"And what would those things be if you are allowed to tell us about them?" asked Chapati with an eager smile.

"After today I can say whatever I want about anything since the Enforcers is now public knowledge, this was one of my major concerns with working for the Council. It was one of the things I required to be able to do with this position, because if I see the Council doing something I think is wrong I am going to tell Fiore all about it." he replied with a smirk.

"Wouldn't that be something the Chairman would actually not want you doing?" asked Yajima.

"Actually it's the exact opposite Yajima, the Chairman and I are tired of how the previous Council was run and want this one to be held accountable for their actions. No more secrets swept under the rug, just because they might make the Council look worse. We both want to restore everyone's faith in the Council and what it used to stand for, which was the protection and safety of the citizens of Fiore from all magical aspects." answered Natsu.

"That's quite the goal Natsu, but isn't your group an example of the Council keeping a secret from the public?" asked Yajima.

"Yes it is, and unfortunately there will be more secrets like it since it's necessary to protect this country. But now the Council will no longer be hiding information about members of their organization that have done something illegal or covering up a mage's actions like they did with me all those years ago when they were concerned I could be a problem and needed to have only my misdeeds on record to make arresting me easier since it would look like I only destroyed things and never helped." he replied.

"It would be great if you two could accomplish this Natsu, but there will probably be plenty of people working against you and the Chairman on this." stated Yajima.

"True, but from what I have seen of Chairman Yamamoto he's actually capable of accomplishing this which is one of the main reasons that I wanted to help him, because as most of you know I have never been a fan of the Council. But that was because I knew how corrupt it was, which is what we're trying to prevent from happening this time around. And from my little investigations so far Chairman Yamamoto has been doing a great job of it, and has set up numerous ways to prevent it from becoming a major problem like it was in the past." he said.

"You've been investigating the Council?" asked Chapati with a shocked expression.

"Yep, and I have been ever since Chairman Yamamoto was promoted. Actually I have been pretty much doing it since the Tower Heaven incident all of those years ago, which was a real wakeup call for me. Granted back then it wasn't much, but now I've gotten pretty good at things of that nature and have even tipped off the Council on a few corrupt employees of theirs." answered Natsu as he watched the arena being set up for the first event. It looked like it was some sort of obstacle course that definitely had some hidden features that he couldn't detect yet.

"That's quite impressive for a single person to do Natsu." stated Yajima with a proud grin.

"Who said I was doing this alone?" he replied with a sly grin.

"Well now I have to ask, who helped you do these things Natsu?" asked Chapati, who was really enjoying Natsu being the guest announcer.

"You know that I can't tell you that Chapati, I don't want them to get into trouble since they obviously didn't have the Council's permission to do any of this. And I've talked with the Chairman about this, and he actually wants them to keep doing it so they can be held accountable." he answered as he watched them start covering the obstacle course completely so that you could no longer see it.

"This is sounding like you might be given a little too much power in the Council Natsu, not that I am saying you would misuse it. But you can definitely see what I am getting at here." stated Yajima as he looked at Natsu with a little concern.

"I can see how you would think that Yajima, but my division can't do whatever it wants. We have to follow the same rules as most of the other citizens of Fiore, with the only exceptions coming into play when we are dealing with dark guilds or legal guilds that are out of line. I am fairly confident that Chairman Yamamoto has probably already made a special group to just keep tabs on us every now and then so we don't get full of ourselves." replied Natsu as he looked back at Yajima.

"I think that might be enough political stuff for now, why don't we move onto something a little brighter?" suggested Chapati with a grin.

"You're in charge of this show Chapati; I'm only here to answer any questions you guys have for me. And possibly give my two cents on the fights and event that are going to be taking place here today." said Natsu with a big smile.

"How would you feel about answering a question from the crowd then Natsu?" asked Chapati.

"Ask away and I'll answer it to the best of my ability." he replied.

"Well the first question is did you really leave Fairy Tail for the reasons that you gave in that interview?" asked Chapati.

"As I said then, I'll say it again now. Those are some of the main reason that I left Fairy Tail, but there are others that I am sure some people are aware of. But the main one is that my time there ended and I needed to see what else the world had in store for me, which has led me to being the Head Enforcer of the Enforcement division. Which is hopefully going to let me help more people than I ever could have while I was out on my own." answered Natsu with a smile.

"Good answer Natsu, the next question wants to know the name of the wyvern that you came in on?" asked Chapati with a smile. But was thrown off his game when Natsu replied with a deep growl and other throaty noises that sounded menacing just from how deep they were.

"What in the world was that?" asked Yajima.

"That was his name in draconic, which can't be really translated into the common tongue correctly. But if I had to say his name in our tongue it would be Zacar, which is only a small portion of his real name." explained Natsu with a smirk.

"Since when could you speak draconic Natsu, I thought that it was completely lost or forgotten?" asked Yajima.

"I have always been able to, but never used it since the only other beings that I know of who can speak it are dragons, wyverns and other dragon slayers. And two of those can speak the common tongue so there really wasn't any reason for me to use it until I was forced to. Actually I am pretty sure that the younger slayers like Sting and Rogue don't even know it either since they didn't have as much time with their dragons like the older generation did." replied Natsu.

"What about the second generation slayers like Laxus?" asked Chapati.

"They definitely don't know it since they weren't raised by an actual dragon." he quickly replied.

"You are definitely full of surprises Natsu." stated Chapati.

"I try to be, it makes life more interesting." he replied with a big grin.

"Moving onto the next question, how long have you been the Commander or whatever your title is for the enforcers? And just so you know that is what the question actually says, but to be honest I am a little unclear of what to call you right now so I have just been going with Natsu." said Chapati with a smirk.

"And that is just fine Chapati and it would feel odd if you started to call me something else. As far as I know I am the commander of that division, which is given the fancy title of Head Enforcer since the Council wanted me to sound special I think. All of the Enforcers call me Commander Dragneel while on duty, but as soon as they are off duty I am just Natsu to them which is how I wanted it." answered Natsu.

"You do realize that you didn't answer the question that he actually asked you Natsu." stated Yajima with an exasperated expression.

"Hahahaha sorry about that, it was asking about how long have I been the Commander of this new division right? And the answer to that would be six months or half a year since they are the same thing, which has allowed me to train them into mages that I know will have my back no matter what the circumstance is." he replied.

"Wow that is longer than I expected." said Chapati.

"If you had to rank your troops Natsu, where would you place them if they were in Fairy Tail for example?" asked Yajima. Who knew that everyone else was wondering this now that they had just learned all of the Enforcers trained under Natsu for half a year.

"I'd have to say that the lowest Enforcer would be at the rank of an A-Class mage. But as you all know there is more to being a mage then your battle performance, which I am confident that these games will show off." he answered as he watched the shocked expressions appear on all of the guilds that were competing.

"You're lowest rank would be an A-Class?" asked Chapati.

"Yep, and those are the ones that don't have magic tailored towards fighting and make up our support teams and other things required for this division to be an effective unit." stated Natsu.

"Then what would you rank the members that are competing in these games?" asked Yajima, knowing that the answer had to be S-Class.

"I really couldn't tell you that since I never progressed higher than an A-Class level while at Fairy Tail. But I'd have to say that they are at least at the level I was the last time we had these games, and we all had to deal with those dragons from the past coming here." answered Natsu with a slightly bored expression on his face.

"You have to be joking right?" asked Chapati.

"Nope and why are you saying this has to be a joke?" he asked as he sent a slight glare at him.

"Well because at that time you were able to take on the twin dragon slayers of Sabertooth who were both S-Class mages by yourself. And you were also the only dragon slayer strong enough to take on a dragon and sent the rest of them back to their time in the process of taking down your own." stated Chapati.

"I really don't see your point here Chapati." he said once again looking bored at this conversation.

"His point Natsu is that most people would classify that level of power at least being S-Class or higher. So how are you not sure of your team being S-Class material, when they are at that level according to you?" asked Yajima.

"I did all of that while being an A-Class mage, which is what I was ranked at when I left Fairy Tail. But as I have said before there is more to being a mage than strength alone, which is one of the things I tried to make all of my troops understand." said Natsu as he looked towards Fairy Tail with a sad smile.

"Well from what my card says about you Natsu, you are ranked right after the fourth Wizard Saint according to the Council. So it is safe to say that you aren't an A-Class mage anymore, which begs the question of why you didn't get promoted to an S-Class mage while you were still at Fairy Tail." stated Chapati.

"I simply didn't have the things that an S-Class mage of Fairy Tail should have." answered Natsu with a small grin.

"That is hard to believe Natsu, but Master Makarov has always gone about picking his S-Class mages differently when compared to other guilds." said Yajima with a frown.

"That he has Yajima, and I couldn't make the cut but that's in the past now." responded Natsu with his usual grin.

"Alright, the last question before we commence the beginning of the Grand Magic Games. What guild would you join if you had to pick one right now?" asked Chapati.

"The answer is Fairy Tail of course, they'll always have a special place in my heart." answered Natsu as he looked over at his old guild with a bright smile.

"That was to be expected. So the first event of this year is titled Shadows!" cheered Chapati as the crowd cheered with him.

 **Back to when the teams left the arena:**

 **With Lamia Scale:**

"I can honestly say that I never saw this one coming, Natsu working for the Council." said Lyon while shaking his head back and forth.

"It does explain why he wouldn't join any other guild though." stated Yuka with a small smile.

"Did you know about this as well Chelia?" asked Toby with a slight glare.

"No I didn't, and I think that he even kept this secret from Wendy and Mira who he pretty much has always told them everything." she replied.

"What makes you think that?" asked Jura.

"I was watching their faces right after Natsu announced the news and they were both completely shocked when hearing it." she answered with a frown.

"I am betting that he wanted to tell them but the Council would have wanted to keep this as quiet as possible." stated Jura with a confident look in his eyes since he knew Natsu wouldn't have kept something like from them unless he had to.

"Well even though this is a big surprise, it looks like Fairy Tail is taking this the hardest. Just look at all of their faces, you'd think that Natsu had actually attacked them from half of the faces that I can see right now." stated Lyon with a frown as he looked at the guild.

"Yeah but the rest of them seem to be pretty happy for him. And I don't see why the others would be so mad at him for working with the Council?" asked Chelia with a smile since she could see that Wendy was happy that he wasn't alone anymore.

"I'd have to guess that they are mad since most of them have always seen the Council as an enemy, which I can't really blame them for after some of the things the old Council tried to pull on them. Especially in Natsu's case which makes this extremely surprising since he had always been vocally against the Council in the past." answered Jura with a furrowed brow.

"That still doesn't really explain why some of them are so mad at him." pointed out Toby who was completely lost right now.

"What I think Jura is trying to say is that for some of them, Natsu joining the Council is the same as him joining a dark guild. Maybe even a little worse since he is now actually the one in charge of all of the guilds and is their superior, meaning that they'll have to listen to what he says once they step out of line. And since this is Fairy Tail that we're talking about it's definitely going to happen sooner or later." explained Lyon.

"Thanks Lyon that makes more sense now, and I think he is going to make a great Enforcer and is bound to get into a lot of fights because of it." replied Toby with a big grin.

"HAHAHA that he will." chuckled Lyon.

"Holy crap, Natsu has been training them for six months." said Chelia with a shocked expression.

"Damn, and the lowest rank in his group is an A-Class." stated Yuka while also having a shocked expression.

"That's not even the most shocking bit of information about all of this." said Jura.

"And what would be more shocking than that?" asked Chelia as she turned to him.

"Possibly learning that all of the Enforcers competing are at Natsu's old level of power, which is something that any mage would be happy to have." stated Lyon as he looked over at the team of Enforcers that were sitting in their booth like nothing exciting was going on.

"That's not what I was talking about either since this group was even kept secret from the Wizard Saints." said Jura with a serious look in his eyes.

"Then what in the world could it be?" asked Toby as Chapati announced where Natsu would be placed if he was a Wizard Saint.

"That's what I was talking about." stated the Wizard Saint.

"What?" shouted the rest of his team as they looked at him.

"Natsu Dragneel is ranked higher than me right now, and from what I can tell he's only going to keep getting stronger. It's not unlikely that he'll soon pass all of the Wizard Saints in power, which is something that he's been always working hard at. Not for the power but to be able to protect what he cares about, that just used to be Fairy Tail. But now it seems to include all of Fiore." said Jura with a little smirk.

 **With Blue Pegasus:**

"He did the exact opposite of what you did Eve." stated Ren with a grin.

"That he did, but I still can't picture Natsu as a figure of authority." replied Eve with a grin of his own.

"And why not?" asked Jenny as she glared at the two of them.

"The main reason is because of everything else that he did before this, and I am not talking about all of the heroic things that he did. And he sure did a lot of them, but right after doing something like that he would do some of the craziest things ever just to make everyone else smile. Like after the dragon attack he actually stole the crown of the king as if it was nothing and was laughing the whole time." explained Eve nervously.

"Calm down Jenny, I can guarantee that Eve isn't the only one thinking along those lines right now." said Hibiki with a serious expression.

"But that doesn't mean everyone should look down on him because he did all of those things just to make everyone else happy." stated Jenny with a slight frown.

"I don't really think anyone will Jenny, it's just hard to see him as someone responsible for keeping other guilds in line when he used to be the biggest problem in those regards. And looking down on him is the last thing I think anyone is going to do if you judge the popularity that he has right now." stated Hibiki with a slight grin.

"I never would have thought you of all people would be defending Natsu." replied Jenny with a smirk.

"I will admit that I was in the wrong last time we met, and I hope to make things up to him." he said still grinning.

"And this has nothing to do with you being afraid that he might actually fight you seriously this time and not let you walk away like he did last time?" asked Ren with a mischievous smile.

"Not at all Ren, but I would be lying if that wasn't in the back of my mind." said Hibiki with a nervous look on his face as he looked over at the announcer's booth. Where said dragon slayer was answering a few questions that the audience and the other announcers had for him.

"Salamander's perfume is even stronger than the last time we met." stated Ichiya while balancing on one foot in a weird pose.

"Are you saying that he's gotten stronger in the last few months?" asked Hibiki as he opened up his files on Natsu.

"Indeed." replied Ichiya as he turned to his team with a big smile.

"How much?" asked Eve in quiet voice, as if he didn't want anyone to know that he was curious about it.

"That I cannot tell you, but it is quite the significant increase in magical power." he answered while getting into a different pose that didn't look any better.

"Well he has been training all of the enforcers while still doing other things for the last six months. So it's kind of expected that he would be stronger than he was before." stated Ren since he was the only one that was paying attention to the discussion that the announcers were having right now.

"Damn, that is impressive since no one noticed anything different about him until the last month." said Eve, wondering how strong Natsu was now, but found that out by Chapati announcing where he would rank if he was a Wizard Saint.

"Shit, I really don't think you ever had a chance against him Hibiki." said Ren in complete shock at hearing that.

"You think, and I bet that is what he was ranked when they first offered him this position. Who knows what he would be ranked now if Master is correct about him getting even stronger than last time." replied Hibiki as he glared at his friend.

"I am definitely correct Hibiki, his perfume would never lie to me about such things." stated Ichiya with a big smile as he watched Natsu continue to chat with his fellow announcers.

"He's always full of surprises, which is why he's always so fun to be around. It also makes me really excited to see what his team can do during these games and if he's going to participate in them at all." said Jenny with a bright smile.

"God I sure hope he doesn't." replied Hibiki with a scared face that only caused the rest of his team to chuckle at him. While also feeling sorry for him, because if Natsu does compete then there is a really good chance he'll have some fun with the poor mage.

"Don't worry Hibiki, I really don't think he will since he's an announcer and will probably be one during the rest of the games." said Eve with a big grin.

"That would be great." said Hibiki with a hopeful smile.

 **With Quatro Cerberus:**

"HAHAHAHA this is totally wild!" cheered Bacchus as the rest of his team cheered with him.

"Master Goldmine was correct about us not trying to get him to join our guild." said Warcry with a smug look on his face.

"Master knew that Salamander would do something completely unexpected like this since that is who he is. But unfortunately we now have to deal with his team, which isn't going to be easy." stated Bacchus with a crazed grin on his face.

"We'll destroy them like all of the other guilds!" shouted Rocker.

"I wouldn't be too confident there Rocker. Since Salamander is the one to teach them then they are not going to go down without a fight. That is a guarantee you can take to the bank because Salamander doesn't even know the word for surrender or anything that means the same thing." warned Bacchus as he looked at Natsu still grinning.

"Will do Bacchus, but I would really like to test myself against them." stated Rocker as he looked at the Enforcers who were quietly sitting in there both. His statement got the rest of his team agreeing with him and looking over at the team they all now viewed as the biggest threat. Even though the Enforcers couldn't even win this thing if they wanted to, thanks to them not being able to score any points.

"That's what I like to hear boys, but I have my sights set on a bigger target." said Bacchus as he continued to watch Natsu.

"Are you talking about Salamander?" asked Nobarly with a slightly concerned look on his face.

"The one and only, but it looks like I might just have to challenge him to a duel after all of this." replied Bacchus which was then followed by the announcement of Natsu's ranking if he was a Wizard Saint.

"That's insane, and Fairy Tail still didn't have him as an S-Class mage." said Warcry in a shocked tone.

"Well he did used to act like an idiot while he was there." stated Rocker, who also couldn't believe where Natsu was ranked.

"Bacchus please say that you still aren't planning on challenging him?" asked Nobarly with an even more concerned look than before.

"Sorry Nobarly but now I have to challenge him." answered Bacchus as another crazed grin made its way to his face.

"Are you sure about that Bacchus?" asked Warcy with a concerned look on his face just like Nobarly's.

"Of course I am, because what could be wilder than fighting against someone that would be ranked as the fifth Wizard Saint if he was one." replied Bacchus and then let out a cheer that the rest of his team did to pump themselves up for the games.

 **With the Enforcers:**

"Commander Dragneel sure got the crowd excited." stated Grace with a smirk.

"You know that you can just call him Natsu since we are technically not on duty right now." said Cole with a smug look on his face.

"I know that Cole, but it doesn't feel right to me even though he says it's completely fine." replied Grace.

"That's probably from all of that training you went through at such a young age." stated Luis as he took a seat.

"You do know that Natsu said we don't have to wear our uniforms anymore." pointed out Toshi as he took a seat one space away from Luis.

"Of course I know that, but what can I say. These uniforms just feel like I am supposed to wear them after wearing nothing but them for the last few months and they are extremely comfortable after you break them in. Isn't that right Asura since you are the only other one to keep wearing them?" said Luis with a bright smile that he usually didn't have unless he was fighting someone that was giving him a challenge.

"They are indeed comfy but I am only wearing them since I didn't know we needed anything else." replied Asura in a sarcastic tone that he usually spoke in.

"I can't tell if he actually didn't know about bringing other clothes." stated Grace as she glared at him.

"Does it really matter Grace, he's always saying things sarcastically." said Toshi with a grin.

"Yes it does Toshi since we're all part of the same team and need to be able to communicate with each other like Commander Dragneel is always telling us." replied Grace as she redirected her glare at him.

"Calm down Grace, you know that Asura only does that when we aren't fighting. And when we are training he's just as professional as the rest of us. At least he actually talks unlike someone else that we all know." said Luis as he looked over at Cyrus who hadn't said a word since they came here this morning.

"What's there to say?" asked Cyrus as he turned to look at Luis.

"I don't know, how about a hello every once in a while." he replied.

"Hello then." said Cyrus who then went back to watching the crowds and the other teams.

"You know that's not what I meant!" shouted Luis.

"Settle down Luis, you know just like the rest of us that he doesn't speak unless it's necessary." said Cole with a bright smile.

"Not true Cole, I actually saw Cyrus and Natsu talking with each other every once and awhile. And they would talk for more than an hour most of the time, what they talked about I have no idea. But the point is that Cyrus can talk but he only does it when he wants to, so let him be Luis." stated Toshi with a smug look on his face as he looked over at his fellow maker mage.

"Fine Toshi, but that only means I'll spend more time thinking of how I am going to beat you in our next duel." replied Luis.

"I would love to increase the lead that I already have on you." said Toshi with a smirk.

"Lead, what the hell are you talking about Toshi? You know that we're tied sixty three to sixty three." stated Luis as he glared at him.

"Well then what I meant was that I would be glad to take the lead again." replied Toshi still smirking.

"You didn't ever have the lead before." declared Luis.

"Enough you two, or do I need to tell Commander Dragneel about this competition you two have been keeping from him?" asked Grace as she glared at the two of them.

"Please don't tell him, he'll come up with another crazy exercising punishment that we'll have to do together." said Luis now on his knees in front of the girl.

"And we barely made it through the last one Grace, please don't tell him and we promise to not bring up the competition again while we're here." begged Toshi, right beside Luis looking up at her with a pleading look.

"Fine but I better not hear about it again." stated Grace as she shook her head at them.

"He already knows." stated Cyrus without looking at them.

"Really, then why hasn't he punished them for doing it?" asked Cole.

"Natsu doesn't mind a good rivalry as long as it doesn't cause any problems." replied Cyrus.

"So as long as we don't cause any problems then we should be fine?" asked Luis with a big grin that only got bigger as Cyrus nodded his head yes.

"You are forgetting that me complaining to him would be seen as a problem." stated Grace with a smirk that caused the two maker mages to gulp.

"But you just said that you wouldn't." pointed out Toshi.

"I did, so long as you two don't annoy me or anyone else with your stupid competition." replied Grace.

"Thank you Grace." said the two of them as they went back to their seats.

"The first event is called Shadows, which means we should send anyone but Luis." stated Asura with a smirk.

"Alright, this should be fun since that's where I am usually hiding in." stated Luis as he got up and headed to the exit.

"Remember what Commander Dragneel said Luis." said Grace before he departed from the booth.

"Yea yea, don't give out any points. I really don't think that will be a problem since me and shadows go way back." replied Luis as he gave them a confident grin and departed from the booth.

 **With Sabretooth:**

"Shit, does this mean that Natsu is actually my boss now?" asked Sting as his team returned to their booth where he was waiting for them.

"In a way yes he is Sting, but that is only if he's sent to deal with us." replied Minerva with a sly grin.

"But that will only happen if we go overboard on jobs or do something that the Council frowns upon." stated Rogue.

"Man and I was really hoping for him to join our guild in the future." said Sting while snapping his fingers.

"You were still only wanting that so he would have to answer to you." stated Minerva.

"That's not true at all Minerva." denied Sting, but everyone else could see it was a complete lie.

"Sting you should know that it's never going to happen. Especially after the last fight the two of you had." said Rogue with a frown.

"Rogue we've already patched all of that mess up when I saw him last time." stated Sting with a grin.

"You say that, but you still have no idea what Natsu is up to or why he doesn't want anyone to help him with it." argued Rogue as he glared at his best friend.

"True but that doesn't really matter since he agreed to fill me in before he starts the final step of his plan." replied Sting.

"Who says that he'll actually go through with that, I could easily see him doing it and saying that he forgot to tell you about it and laugh it off as if it wasn't a big deal." stated Rogue with an upset facial expression.

"Natsu would never do that, he's a man of his word." declared Sting as he started to glare at his friend.

"He also said that he would never be caught dead working for the Council, but look at him now." argued Rogue.

"Yeah but that's different." replied Sting.

"How so Sting, please explain?" asked Rogue who didn't like the new Natsu that apparently the rest of Fiore couldn't get enough of.

"First off when he made those comments Rogue it was usually after preventing a catastrophe and during a party to celebrate their victory. So you can't really hold that against him, but the biggest difference is that when he was talking with Sting it was just the two of them. And we all know that Natsu doesn't break his promises with his friends, which Sting is definitely one of them." explained Minerva.

"Fine you two win and I still don't like you going after him like you do Minerva." stated Rogue with a frown.

"I am free to go after whoever I chose to Rogue, or is this your way of telling me that you have a thing for me?" asked Minerva with a sly grin.

"You know I don't Minerva, but I just find it odd that you keep going after him even after he's made it evidently clear that he only wants to be friends with you." replied Rogue as he looked her in the eyes.

"What can I say Rogue, I like going after the hard ones and Natsu right now is the hardest one to get." she stated with an evil grin on her face.

"Now that's the Minerva that we used to always have at our guild, now just focus that spirit into these games and we are sure to be ranked number one again." cheered Sting excitedly.

"Shit, I don't know if Fairy Tail is going to be our biggest threat this year." said Rufus with a concerned look on his face.

"And why would you say that?" asked Minerva as she looked at him.

"Because the Enforcers have been training with Natsu for the last six months." stated Orga with a grin since this meant that they should offer him an actual challenge. Because in his opinion the only other people to look out for are the mages form Fairy Tail and Jura of course, and Fairy Tail proved last time that they are not to be taken lightly.

"Not only that but according to Natsu all of the Enforcers are at least at an A-Class level. And the ones competing are supposed to have as much power as he did the last time we had these games." explained Yukino with a slightly scared expression on her face.

"That's to be expected if he was training them for a total of six months. It's actually impressive that they have enough mages remaining after his training to have a whole division." stated Minerva while nodding her head.

"And why do you say that?" asked Sting as he looked over at her after getting rid of his shocked expression.

"Now this is only a guess but I can only assume that Natsu made them start doing his normal training routine. And if you haven't seen him do it, then you would be surprised at how much work he actually does and might respect him a little more because he has definitely worked for everything that he's gotten in life so far. Of course he probably didn't throw them straight into it since that would kill most mages, but I bet he built up to it over the first month and has constantly been increasing their training ever since." explained Minerva.

"Why would he put them through something that you say would actually kill a normal mage?" asked Yukino, since she didn't think Natsu would do something like that.

"He would do that for two main reasons, the first one would be to get rid of the mages that can't handle hard work. And the second one and probably the main reason that Natsu did something like that would be to give them the best chance of surviving." answered Minerva with a frown.

"Surviving what?" asked Ogra since from what he's heard working for the Council is pretty easy.

"All of the dark guilds that they will be hunting down and capturing in the near future. Or did you forget that one of the main reasons for the Enforcers being created was to deal with the increase of dark guilds that have been popping up recently?" asked Minerva as she glared at him.

"I mainly focused on the part of them being in charge of dealing with legal guilds." replied Ogra with an embarrassed look.

"Hey Ogra don't feel bad since that was what I focused on too." stated Sting with a grin that made the others question why they elected him as the new guild master.

"Moving on, we all know that Natsu can't help but become attached with the people that he works with and will do everything that he can to prevent any of them from dying. And of course in his eyes the best way to do that would be to put them through his own version of hell. The ones that make it through are ones that he won't have to keep a constant eye on." finished Minerva with a smug look on her face.

"Damn, when did you become an expert on Natsu?" asked Sting with a grin.

"When I decided that he was the only man for me of course." replied Minerva with a sly grin.

"You sure know how to pick them Minerva, since they just said that he would be ranked at the level of fifth Wizard Saint." stated Rufus with a shocked look since he didn't know Natsu was at that level.

"Oh did I not tell you guys about that a few months ago?" asked Minerva with a bored expression.

"You most certainly did not!" shouted Yukino, which surprised the rest of them.

"So how in the world did you know that Minerva?" asked Rogue.

"I have a few friends working in the Council, and they always tell me about anything related to him. But apparently they didn't even know about the formation of the Enforcers, which is very impressive since they've gotten me classified information before." answered Minerva still looking bored.

"How do you have so many people getting you intel?" asked Sting as he looked at one of his strongest mages.

"What can I say Sting, I'm a people person." she replied with a sinister grin. That made all of them assume that these people were ones that she used to blackmail for intel and just haven't figured out yet that she isn't like that anymore.

"So who are we going to send for the first event?" asked Ogra as he noticed the other guilds sending out their participating members.

"What's the event called?" asked Minerva.

"Shadows." replied Yukino as she grinned at Rogue along with everyone else.

 **With Mermaid Heel:**

"No wonder he said that we had nothing to fear about him joining another guild." stated Kagura with a smirk.

"I never would have thought he would be working for the Council." said Millianna with a shocked look. Since she saw firsthand how much Natsu hated the Council during the whole Tower of Heaven incident, which he blamed on the Council since Jellal was part of them at the time.

"I actually think it makes sense." replied Kagura still having a smirk.

"How so?" asked Millianna as she looked at the swordswoman.

"Well if you think about what he really cares about it actually aligns perfectly with what the Council should be. And that is an organization that's sole purpose is to protect the Country from all magical threats, those from outside of it and also those from within." answered Kagura.

"Yeah but it still seems weird." said Millianna with a scrunched up face.

"Not really since this is a new Council and he'll now be able to help steer it where it should be heading. And it would appear that Natsu and the Chairman have a lot in common, which is good since they are both going to be the ones that everyone looks to in a time of need." stated Kagura.

"Natsu was already someone that you would look to for guidance." pointed out Millianna.

"That he was and is probably one of the reasons the Council wanted him to join them. Not to mention how popular he is right now, and how that is only going to help their reputation which is pretty low after how things turned out with the last Councils." she said with a frown.

"Does this mean that Natsu will come by the guild sometime?" asked Beth with a small yet hopeful smile.

"Probably, but I am assuming that he'll only go to guilds that are giving the Council trouble." replied Kagura as she looked over at a specific guild.

"Like Fairy Tail?" asked Risley with a smirk, since she and the rest of the girls thought that Kagura might have a thing for the dragon slayer. And after she actually did the photoshoot with him, it was pretty much a fact now despite her constant denial of it.

"Yes, but apparently they have toned down alot since Natsu left them." stated Kagura as she studied the mixed emotions that were being displayed on the faces of the members from Fairy Tail.

"I would have to say that Natsu not being a member is a big part of it." said Millianna with a big smile since she loved hearing the stories about team Natsu and the chaos that seemed to follow the group.

"That's true, but according to Erza the rest of the members have settled down as well. Master Makarov actually said that he misses seeing the letters demanding for compensation since it meant that they were giving it their all." said Kagura as she looked at Erza and couldn't read her facial expression at the moment.

"They don't seem to be taking this news too well." pointed out Arana as she nodded towards Fairy Tail.

"No they aren't, but that might be due to some of them thinking that he might be returning to them shortly. But after this they definitely know it won't be the case, if he even returns to them at all. And you can't really blame them since Natsu was sometimes referred to as the heart of Fairy Tail." she replied as she started to look at some of the other members.

"I know that Natsu has already given numerous reasons of why he left them, but I for some reason feel as if he's leaving something out. And you two know him the best out of us, so do either of you know what actually happened?" asked Risley with a concerned look.

"We do, but it's not our place to tell." replied Millianna with a slight frown, because she actually hasn't talked with Natsu after she brought his old team to their photoshoot. So she really didn't know if he was still mad at her for doing that, or if they were back to how they usually were.

"Let's just say that we learned you need to constantly keep working on your friendships otherwise you might accidently ruin them before you even realize it." replied Kagura with a frown.

"So something did happen between him and his old team." stated Arana.

"I never said that." said Kagura as she glared at Arana.

"No you didn't but it was easy to figure out, especially since you and Millianna haven't gone to visit Erza after your meeting with Natsu. And I can only assume that is because he told you two everything that happened and you're both a little mad at them because of it." explained Arana.

"That's not the reason we haven't visited her recently." denied Millianna while shaking her head back and forth.

"Come on Millianna, we've already figured it out so there is no use in denying it anymore." stated Riseley with a little smirk.

"Fine, you got us." said Kagura after letting out a long sigh.

"So what happened?" asked Beth.

"Sorry but we still can't tell you that." replied Kagura with a glare so they all knew to drop the subject.

"Okay if you can't tell us what happened between Natsu and them can you at least tell us what you and Erza talked about last time she called you and you hung up after just ten minutes?" asked Riseley with a warm smile.

"Oh she was just concerned that she might have made things worse between her and Natsu when he visited them that day. It had something to do with him having a sword with the Council's emblem on it and she demanded that he tell her about it. But Natsu didn't tell her anything and actually lied to her and then ended up storming off and only showed up the next day for the photoshoot, that was then attacked by that dark guild once they were done." explained Kagura, seeing no harm in telling them about it.

"It would seem that she was right to be suspicious of him since he was in fact working for them already." stated Arana.

"Yeah and now it's obvious why he lied to her." stated Millianna with a frown.

"Isn't that also when he stopped showing up in the news?" asked Beth.

"Yes it was which makes me wonder what he was up to." replied Kagura.

"I would have thought that he was just training the Enforcers." stated Risley.

"If he was doing that then he would have continued to do other things to not raise suspicion like he was doing the months before. So I can only assume that he was up to something that even the Council doesn't know about, because I know that he still doesn't trust the Council completely even if he's now working for them." explained Kagura.

"Kagura did you hear that?" asked Millianna with a stunned expression on her face.

"Sorry Millianna but I didn't, what did they say?" she asked.

"Natsu is at the rank of the fifth Wizard Saint, do you think that's because he can now heal people with his flames?" asked Millianna.

"He can do what?" asked the other three together.

"Natsu can heal simple wounds with a certain flame that he can now summon. And I really don't think that is the only reason Millianna, I would have to guess it's because of everything else that he can do with his flames that other fire mages could only dream of doing." stated Kagura with a grin.

"Well I am just glad that he's not competing this year." said Arana with the other three nodding their heads in agreement.

"I am actually disappointed since he's apparently really skilled with a sword now." said Kagura as she looked over at said dragon slayer.

"You can always ask him for a duel and isn't that Savage girl supposed to be really good." stated Millianna with a faint smile.

"Erza said she is one of the best that she's ever seen, so hopefully we'll get to duel each other during these games." replied Kagura as she looked over a Savage who was glaring at one of her teammates right now.

"I am sure the crowd will love that." said Beth with a bright smile as she started to imagine it.

 **With Fairy Tail:**

"How the hell did Flame Brain start working for the Council?" shouted Grey angrily as he entered their booth.

"Not only that but he's actually a commander of his own division that was just created." stated Laxus with a slight grin, glad to see that Natsu was doing fine on his own. Actually he was doing better than fine, he seemed to be doing a lot more now that he was no longer a member. He now had his own clothing line and tons of fans, and even had a job that would let him cut loose while still protecting the citizens of Fiore. So it looked at least in Laxus' opinion that this might have been the best for Natsu.

"And that division is specialized in taking down dark guilds, which is right up Salamander's line of expertise." said Gajeel with his own grin while thinking along the same lines of Laxus.

"So this is what he meant about being able to help more people than he ever could while being at Fairy Tail." said Lucy with a sad smile, since she knew this meant that Natsu definitely wasn't coming back anytime soon.

"I knew he had a sword with their emblem on it, and now it makes sense why he lied about it. But I also find it really hard to believe that he's actually working for the Council on his own free will." stated Erza with a stoic face.

"Finally someone else who finds all of this fishy, there is no way he would ever work for them." said Grey with a serious look on his face.

"What about fish?" asked Happy with a bright smile and somehow seemed unaffected by this news.

"Nothing Happy, and why aren't you surprised about this?" asked Lucy.

"Darn I was hoping that someone had a fish for me, and I am not surprised since Natsu said that he wasn't going to be coming back to Fairy Tail anytime soon. So of course he would find something else to do in the meantime and working for the Council has its advantages." stated Happy as he got out his own fish and started to eat it happily.

"Did you know about this already Happy?" asked Erza as she glared at the cat.

"Nope, just found out about it like the rest of you." he replied with a fish still in his mouth.

"Are you saying that during the whole time you were with Natsu he never once mentioned working for the Council?" asked Levy, who couldn't help but be curious.

"Yes, we spent most of that time looking for that island and then fixing up the place while training. And whenever Natsu left, he would only be gone for a day at a time." answered Happy.

"And where did he go during that time?" asked Erza.

"Didn't ask and he didn't tell." he replied with a smile that irritated her.

"Why didn't you ask him?" she asked in a harsh tone.

"Maybe because he still trusts Natsu, unlike you Erza!" shouted Wendy as she got in between Erza and Happy.

"I still trust him." said Erza with a frown.

"You can say that all you want Erza, but all of your actions towards him have said otherwise." replied Wendy as she continued to glare at her.

"No they haven't, last time he visited nothing bad happened." stated Erza, knowing that every other time it didn't end well between the two of them.

"And that was the only time that nothing bad happened Erza, which only happened because you decided to keep your distance and not really say anything to him. If you had I am sure you would have driven him off like you've done every other time." said Wendy with venom in her voice.

"Wendy that is enough, Erza never meant for any of that other stuff to happen." said Mira with a slight frown.

"Are you sure about that Mira, because I don't want to risk Natsu never coming to visit us again thanks to Erza thinking she always knows what's best. And it was thanks to her that you and Natsu barely talked for a whole month, because she actually thought that he would let our friends die like they meant nothing to him." said Wendy as she turned around to look at Mira.

"Yes I am Wendy, so please stop saying things like that to Erza. Can't you see that she's only concerned about him just like the rest of us?" asked Mira with a small smile.

"She sure has a really weird way of showing it since it always seems to end with Natsu no longer being around." replied Wendy as she gave Erza a quick glare.

"Settle down Wendy, even if she does drive Natsu away again. All you have to do is go around destroying things and the Council will send him right to us." stated Laxus with a huge grin since he thought it was a hilarious idea.

"Laxus stop putting such terrible ideas into her head." scolded Carla.

"That isn't actually that bad of an idea." stated Gajeel with a bigger grin than he had before.

"Please don't say you're all going to start acting like Natsu used to just so he'll be around the guild more?" asked Levy as she rolled her eyes.

"Why not Shrimp, the Council is going to send Salamander which means we'll get to fight him." replied Gajeel.

"You've already forgotten that he would be coming on the behalf of the Council and can punish the guild as he sees fit." stated Levy with a grin of her own as the two dragon slayers realized what that meant.

"Shit, I was only thinking about how fun it would be to fight him again." stated Laxus no longer having a smile on his face.

"Salamander wouldn't do anything too bad would he?" asked Gajeel with a little concern in his voice.

"From what I could tell he seems to be taking this new position very seriously." answered Lucy.

"And how the hell would you know something like that Lucy?" asked Grey who was clearly still upset about all of this.

"Well for starters he lied to all of us about it, which shows that he listened to them about keeping his new division a secret. Not to mention that he's been training them for half a year and you could tell that they are all very disciplined and respect him as their commander." she replied.

"How so Lucy?" asked Levy.

"Well Grace went along with him about them not knowing each other is one example, because I really don't think she would have done that if she didn't respect him. But the real reason I think that they respect him was displayed when they all waited for Natsu to tell them it was okay to leave the arena. They disregarded the Chairman's command of being dismissed and waited for Natsu to tell them they could go." explained Lucy.

"Wow I didn't think anything of that Lucy, way to take note of the little things." said Levy with a smile.

"I did find all of that very odd." stated Erza with a thoughtful expression.

"It's not that odd when you think about it, they have been training with him for half a year now. When it can take him less than a day to get complete strangers to follow him, because that's one of the things that makes Natsu special." stated Happy with a smug grin on his face.

"Are we sure that the Council isn't forcing him to do this?" asked Grey.

"Maybe if this happened while he was still a member of Fairy Tail, but he didn't meet with the Chairman until three months after he left us. Also has Natsu ever done something that he didn't want to do Grey?" asked Levy with a smirk.

"No he hasn't but he might if someone threatened to hurt someone he cares about. And that still includes most of the members of the guild, so maybe the Council threatened to close us down if he didn't do this." suggested Grey who obviously didn't want to accept that Natsu was doing this on his own.

"If that was the case I don't think he would be able to act so casually during this whole thing like he has been Grey." said Erza as she looked over at Natsu who happened to have one of his usual grins right now.

"Grey I know you don't want to hear this but I am confident that Natsu joined them of his own free will." said Mira with a big smile.

"How are you happy about this Mira, this means that he's not going to be coming back to us anytime soon?" asked Grey with a very confused expression on his face after seeing the genuine smile of hers.

"I'm happy because I now know that he's no longer on his own Grey and like Happy said earlier Grey the chances of Natsu returning to Fairy Tail any time soon were extremely slim. And now that this has been revealed to the world maybe he'll actually stop by more often since he won't be targeted by the dark guilds as much." she answered with a hopeful smile.

"Sorry Mira but I think this might have the exact opposite effect when dealing with threats from dark guilds. Just think about it, Natsu is now the leader of a group that is designed to deal with them so of course he would become the one they try to take out. Because if they could accomplish that the rest of his group would most likely crumble without him being there." stated Levy with a frown.

"I would have to disagree with you on that one Levy." said Lucy.

"Oh and which part are you disagreeing with?" asked Levy.

"About the Enforcers not being able to handle themselves without Natsu being there. And the only reason that I am disagreeing with you on that is because of him not being with them for the whole time that he was with Happy. Also I am sure that is one of the things that Natsu has been training them for even if they didn't know it by still going out on his own and doing his own thing." explained Lucy with a sad smile, because the old Natsu would have never thought about things like this and would have just made sure to have as much fun as possible.

"Either way, Natsu will show all of them that they would be wise to not come after him." stated Mira with a big grin.

"And why are you grinning about something like that?" asked Erza who expected to see Mira frowning about this.

"She's grinning because of what Chapati just said about Salamander." stated Gajeel with a shocked expression.

"And what did they just say about him, that he's now actually going to be in a movie?" asked Grey sarcastically.

"Oh that if he wasn't the Head Enforcer that he would be the fifth Wizard Saint." replied Laxus who was also stunned by this information.

"No way, this has to be a joke." said Grey in disbelief.

"Nope, and he's only going to keep getting stronger." stated Levy with a slight grin.

"And why do you think that Levy?" asked Lucy who like Mira and Levy wasn't too shocked by this piece of information.

"Because Natsu is the new Fire King like I keep telling all of you which means he'll be one of the strongest mages the world has ever known. The title used to be held by dragons for most of the time, but now it was given to a human, that human will eventually be at their level of strength and power if not higher." replied Levy with her grin getting bigger.

"That's just a title you think he has Levy, there is no way that Natsu will become that strong." argued Grey since he didn't want his rival to continue to leave him in the dust.

"No it's not Grey and everything that he's done recently has proven that he's no ordinary fire dragon slayer. Or even fire mage for that matter since his flames have endless possibilities, I mean have you ever heard of a fire mage being able to teleport themselves to their own flames?" asked Levy as she looked at him.

"No I haven't but that still doesn't mean he's this Fire King that you think he is." replied Grey.

"Then how about him being able to come up with his own version of Fairy Law?" asked Levy with a smug look on her face.

"That was just dumb luck." stated Grey.

"It was anything but that Grey, when Natsu used that spell it actually healed his allies while burning anything that he viewed as a threat. And something that complicated doesn't just happen by luck, he was probably working on that spell in secret for years now." said Erza with a stoic expression.

"Whatever, I still don't like any of this." stated Grey with a frown.

"I don't either Grey, but this is the path that he's chosen to walk so the only thing that we can do for him now is support him in his decision." replied Erza.

"I guess you're right since we're the ones that forced him to leave in the first place." said Grey as he left the booth to do who knows what on his own.

"Glad to see that at least Grey is finally accepting his role in all of this." said Wendy with a little smirk.

"Wendy could you please give them a break while we're here at least?" asked Mira with a frown as she noticed the sad expressions come over the faces of Lucy and Erza.

"And why would I do that Mira, Natsu isn't coming back for who knows how long and has actually possibly put himself in even more danger. Yes being ranked at the level of the fifth Wizard Saint will deter most attempts on his life, but that just means they are going to come up with more underhanded tricks to try and get him and send mages that can actually stand against a Wizard Saint." replied Wendy with a frown.

"Wendy you know that Natsu wouldn't have it any other way and I also know that he told you he most likely wasn't coming back to the guild." stated Mira with a sad smile.

"I know that Mira, but I still hoped that he would change his mind and end up with us before a complete year had passed. But now it will most likely be years before that even becomes a possibility again." said Wendy with a sad expression and looked like she might actually cry, which hasn't happened in front of anyone from the guild since he left.

"Hey it's okay Wendy, and at least now there aren't any more secrets he's trying to keep from us. Also he should be able to make more visits to the guild now as well, because it would be really stupid if a dark guild tries to attack him while he was with us." replied Mira with a bright smile.

"I guess you're right Mira, but you are forgetting about the mysterious person and mission that he's still after." stated Wendy, hoping that she was wrong about who she thought he was after.

"If that's the only thing he now keeps from us I think I'll be fine." said Mira with the same smile.

"Well if you two are done talking about Salamander I think it's time I go and beat the shit out of one of his new students or troops. Actually what they hell do I even call them?" asked Gajeel as he looked to Levy for an answer.

"All of those work and you could even call them an Enforcer as well." stated Levy with a smile.

"Okay, time to kick the ass of an Enforcer." replied Gajeel as he left the booth while doing some stretching along the way.

 **Back with Natsu and the other announcers:**

"Interesting name, I already have a good idea who some of the teams might send out after hearing that." stated Natsu with a grin.

"Oh and would you like to make these predictions known to the rest of us?" asked Chapati with a grin.

"Why not, from the Enforcers I am confident that Luis Landor will be competing in it. The next easiest one to guess that would be participating would be Rogue from Sabretooth since he's a shadow dragon slayer. After him I would assume that Gajeel from Fairy Tail is competing since he can also use shadows when he needs to like I am assuming all of you can remember him doing from last time we had these games. Those three are the ones that I am really confident about, from Mermaid Heel I would guess either Risley or Millianna might compete. As for Lamia Scale it could possibly be Chelia or Yuka, but overall I don't think this is an event designed for any of them. From Blue Pegasus I would send out Hibiki since his knowledge would come in real handy no matter what the challenge is. Quatro Cerberus and Twilight Ogre, sorry but I don't know most of your mages that well so I am not even going to try and guess who's going to be competing for each of you." said Natsu with a thoughtful expression.

"Wow Natsu, you seemed to have really thought about this." stated Yajima with a stunned facial expression.

"Not really since I just learned about the event right now, and I am only going off the name of the event." he replied.

"That may be true Natsu, but you seem to know a lot about most of the teams competing here." said Chapati who was also shocked by Natsu's answer.

"Well you know what they say, knowledge is power and I have a lot of it since I have fought with and against most of these people for years now." stated Natsu with a grin.

"We might just have to make you a permanent announcer for these games." suggested Chapati jokingly.

"And I would be more than glad to do that with you two since this is already better than I initially thought it would be." he replied shocking his fellow announcers and getting a loud cheer from the crowd.

"It would appear that the crowd is a huge fan of that idea Natsu." stated Yajima with a grin.

"Oh they'll cheer for anything, isn't that right everyone!" he shouted with a smile as the crowd cheered even louder.

"I really don't think that's the case here Natsu, I am pretty sure that they only did that because of you. And they are excited for anything related to the famous Salamander who used to be a rogue mage but is now the Commander of the Enforcement division of the Council. Who seems to constantly be surprising everyone with everything that he does." said Chapati.

"So are you saying that they would actually probably go and see a movie if I was the star of it?" asked Natsu causing the crowd to quiet down and listen carefully.

"I think it would probably be sold out for months even if you were bad init." stated Chapati with a grin.

"Why does everybody keep adding that in, I could be a really good actor for all you know." replied Natsu as he glared at Chapati.

"Sorry Natsu I meant nothing by that expect that everyone loves you right now and would still go to watch it." he explained nervously.

"You've talked with other people about this Natsu?" asked Yajima with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah and before you start thinking that I might be actually doing a movie it was only with Fairy Tail. And they couldn't decide what type of movie I would be the best in, but I think the whole idea is ridiculous." stated Natsu.

"Well we have a really easy way to figure out if it's just a dumb idea Natsu. Alright everyone if you would like to see Natsu in a movie cheer as loud as you can." announced Chapati with a huge smile knowing that the crowd was going to cheer the loudest for this, which he was correct about.

"There you go Natsu, so when you aren't dealing with rowdy guilds or taking down dark guilds you should get to work on making a movie." said Yajima with a smirk.

"I'll get right on that since those other two things will barely take up my time." replied Natsu sarcastically.

"It looks like most of the teams have sent out their chosen competitors and it would appear that you are correct on most of them Natsu. The only ones that you weren't one hundred percent sure on were still from the two options that you gave. We have Yuka from Lamia Scale and Millianna from Mermaid Heel, as for Quatro Cerberus we have Rocker and from Twilight Ogre we have Thibault." announced Chapati.

"Hey Thibault, why do you look so familiar to me?" asked Natsu causing the mage to start sweating profusely.

"I have no idea." he replied hoping that Natsu would give up on trying.

"Did we fight before?" asked Natsu while scratching his chin in thought.

"I really wouldn't call what happened a fight." mumbled Thibault forgetting about Natsu's great hearing.

"Oh now I remember you, you were the guy that was harassing Fairy Tail while we were gone." said Natsu in a deep tone that caused everyone to start fearing for the mage he was staring at.

"I am so sorry about all of that." apologized Thibault.

"HAHAHA that's old news buddy, don't worry about it and I hope you do well." replied Natsu with his usual grin, once again shocking everyone in the process.

"Darn I really wanted to see you fight him." stated Chapati with a devious grin.

"Chapati, you're not supposed to encourage such behavior." scolded Yajima as he glared at the man.

"It's fine Yajima, and I am betting that he's not the only one that wants to see me fight." stated Natsu as the crowd cheered at hearing that.

"Since that's the case maybe after one of the days I'll accept any challenger that wants to go against the notorious Salamander." he said with a sly grin as the crowd erupted at the idea.

"Would this be similar to what you did at Fairy Tail a few months ago?" asked Yajima.

"Probably, but someone else would have to set things up for it." he replied still grinning.

"I am sure that people are already getting to work on that Natsu, but right now we have an event to start." stated Chapati.

"I along with everyone else can't wait to hear what the contestants have to do for this event only know as Shadows right now." stated Natsu as he leaned in closer to his mic.

"The event is actually very straightforward, each contestant has to go through the course and try to get as far as they can through it without being detected. And if multiple contestants make it through the course then it will come down to time. But as you all know it's not going to be that easy for them, throughout the course there are things such as cameras, pressure plates, motion sensors and all sorts of things designed to detect the presence of someone. So in order to make it through this course you need to be a shadow, hence the name of the event." explained Chapati.

"I am assuming that the contestants aren't going to be able to watch each other's attempts?" asked Yajima.

"No they will not, the contestants that haven't gone yet will be held in a room where they won't be able to hear or see anything that is going on out here. And there of course are things set in place to prevent any sort of cheating that someone might try." answered Chapati.

"Interesting, and it would appear that they are drawing lots to get the order of the contestants. After hearing all of this Natsu what are your thoughts on all of this?" asked Yajima as he turned to look at him.

"Well I'd have to say that the three shadow mages have a huge advantage in all of this since it's what they are supposed to be in order to make it through. But knowing how these things are supposed to test a mage on all sorts of things I can only assume that it won't be as simple for them to just go into a shadow and race to the end." answered Natsu as he looked at all of the contestants.

"Very true Natsu, but I there is only two mages out there that can use shadows." stated Chapati with a confused look.

"Oh I assumed that the Council gave you information on the Enforcers competing in these games." said Natsu with a smirk.

"No they didn't since they don't want to reveal any secrets that could possibly harm your group." replied Chapati.

"Not a bad idea since the dark guilds are probably going to be going after us just as much as we are going after them. So if you couldn't guess Luis can also use shadows and is actually a shadow maker." stated Natsu as he wondered how much information he should actually give out.

"I didn't know that there were makers out there that could use shadows." said Yajima with a thoughtful expression.

"From what I know a magic maker can actually be given any element to work with and it is completely random which type their magic will go to. Of course there are some that can easily be taught, but those are the more common ones out there or you have to be trained by someone who actually mastered it." said Natsu.

"So I take it that Luis got his naturally?" asked Chapati.

"Yep, and he's actually not the only maker on the team. Toshi is a fire maker which is just as unheard of as a shadow maker, but that's probably due to the fact that the element that they both use isn't a solid at all. Unlike the more common maker types that most people have heard of." answered Natsu.

"Wow your Enforcers are just as surprising as you Natsu." said Yajima with a smile.

"Thanks Yajima, Doranbolt picked the best that the Council had to offer and with his help we made them even better. And during these games you will all see what we're capable of." said Natsu with a grin.

"So before the first contestant goes who do you think is going to take first place?" asked Chapati.

"Well unfortunately for everyone else competing, this is exactly what Luis has been training for during the last three months. And I actually think the course that we set up for him at our base is harder, but time will only tell if that's true." responded Natsu as all of the contestants expect for Thibault were teleported to their waiting room.

"It looks like Thibault is the first mage that gets to try their luck on this event!" cheered Chapati as the mage entered the course.

"What all the contestants need to remember is that the last thing they should think of this event as is a race." stated Natsu.

"And why is that Natsu?" asked Chapati as the crowd watched Thibault running through the course only for him to accidentally trigger one of the pressure plates that were scattered all over it and set off the alarm.

"Because something like that will happen, it's a better strategy to take your time and actually finish the thing undetected. And if you can do that then you are still a winner in my book even if you aren't first, since I don't even know if I could make it through this thing." answered Natsu as Thibault exited the course after only making it less than a tenth of the way through it.

"Very wise words Natsu, now let's see if any of the contestants are going to be thinking the same way." said Chapati as the next contestant appeared at the start of the course. Who just so happened to be Rocker who let out a shout before charging in faster than Thibault and was almost instantly detected.

"It would seem that so far it wouldn't be the case." said Yajima while trying to not laugh at the pitiful display Rocker just showed all of Fiore.

"I have a feeling that the rest of the contestants will realize this, and I know that Quatro Cerberus and Twilight Ogre won't make the same mistake again during these games." said Natsu with a confident grin.

"And why would you think that Natsu?" asked Yajima as the next contestant was revealed to be Millianna.

"You don't make it to the top eight without being more than just a really strong guild; you definitely need the brains to back it up as well. And like I said before both of those guilds will learn from this first event." said Natsu as Millianna had already made it the farthest so far and was now stopped in front of a section that had lasers crisscrossing all over the place. And she was trying to figure out how she was going to get through them.

"Millianna has already gotten to the halfway point everybody, which puts her up against the lasers that will disqualify her if anything goes through them." said Chapati in a hushed tone as the whole arena held their breaths waiting to see what she would do.

Millianna backed up a few paces and to the arena's surprised she sprinted right at the lasers and dove straight in. But right when it looked like she was about to hit one of them she fell to the floor and sprung towards the right wall by going through a hole that barely let her pass through them. She then sprung off of the wall and shot for another gap that she knew she would let her pass through without touching any of the lasers. Millianna continued this method until she made it all the way through the lasers and landed outside of them with a confident smirk and continued on, as the crowd released a collective breath that they were all holding.

"There you have it, the first contestant to make it past the halfway mark!" cheered Chapati.

"Right there is why I thought she would be a good person to do this challenge." stated Natsu with a grin.

"That was quite impressive, there aren't that many mages out there that would be able to do what she just did." said Yajima while nodding his head.

"It seems like she's come to the next big challenge for the contestants, which is the magic sensor." stated Chapati as the alarm went off signaling the end of Millianna's run.

"It's not surprising that this would be hard for her to overcome for numerous reasons. The first is that most mages don't even know what they look like, and even if they do it's really hard to hide your magic from it." said Yajima.

"You are definitely correct about that Yajima, it took about a month for some of my troops to be able to hide from it." stated Natsu with a grin.

"I take it that Luis was one of them?" asked Chapati.

"Nope it took him less than a week to be able to get past them. Which is one of the reasons why he's the leader of our recon division, since stuff like this comes to him naturally." answered Natsu still grinning at them.

"I didn't know your group was separated into different divisions." stated Yajima.

"There is a lot about my group that you don't know and I plan to keep it that way since I don't want our enemies learning anything that could help them." replied Natsu.

"Well it looks like Yuka has gotten to the lasers, let's see how he handles them." announced Chapati as all of the focus went to the screen now displaying Yuka. Who looked like he was having a hard time figuring out how to go past them. Finally coming up with a plan Yuka attempted to traverse through them but only made it half way until his heel accidentally went through one of them.

"Darn, he was really doing a great job." said Chapati.

"That he was." agreed Natsu with a big smile.

"That's half of the contestants and there has still been no one to get through the entire course yet. Or even made it to the final big obstacle of this event." pointed out Yajima.

"Oh and what would that final obstacle be?" asked Natsu since he wasn't informed about any of the events unlike the other two.

"Let's see if Gajeel will be the first contestant to make it that far." said Chapati as Gajeel went into his shadow mode and easily went through the first half like it was noting.

"Now the really question is will he realize that the magic detector is here before it's too late?" asked Yajima as Gajeel made his way to it.

"I can guarantee that he'll notice it, but I am wondering if he'll be able to hide from it." replied Natsu.

"Why are you so sure that he'll notice it Natsu?" asked Chapati just as Gajeel came to a stop and exited the shadow that he was in and just stood there.

"The reason that I was confident that he would notice it was because Gajeel has the same dragon instincts that I do. And they would be screaming at me that something was up with the next room since there was barely any other things trying to trip you up right before it." explained Natsu. Just when Natsu finished his explanation Gajeel entered the room that took Millianna out, but unlike with her nothing happened as he slowly made his way through it.

"Looks like he can hide his magic presence, which is impressive since the more that you have the harder it is to actually hide it all." said Natsu who was glad that Gajeel didn't get knocked out there.

"That's to be expected of a Fairy Tail mage." stated Chapati with a smile.

"They are all impressive mages, but how will he deal with the next challenge?" asked Yajima as Gajeel started to sniff the air. And then to everyone's surprise he started to grin like he just received the best news possible and started to walk forward while releasing his magic in huge waves directed in front of him just to make sure that he didn't trigger the magic detector.

"What in the world is he thinking?" asked Chapati, which was the question on everyone's mind right now.

"I think I understand what he's trying to do, and honestly it seems more like something I would have done." replied Natsu with a big grin.

"Would you please enlighten us Natsu?" asked Yajima with an irritated look on his face.

"HAHAHAHA, now this is just an assumption but I am guessing that the final challenge is some sort of monster specialized in detection. And rather than trying to sneak past it Gajeel has decided to try and scare it into doing absolutely nothing, which judging by the lack of alarms I would assume he's succeeding." he explained while still grinning at the screen with Gajeel displayed on it.

"Wait a minute, isn't that against the rules?" asked Chapati.

"I wouldn't think so since none of the alarms have gone off and that was the only thing they had to try and avoid. And I do have to agree with you Natsu on this being something you would have done." stated Yajima with a smile.

"Thanks Yajima and Fairy Tail is the first team to complete the course!" shouted Natsu with a proud grin on his face as the rest of the crowd cheered along with him.

"That was quite the show, let's see if Hibiki can match that?" announced Chapati as the crowd quieted down for the next contestant. Hibiki instantly started to use his magic and was typing away like a madman, he was fast that you couldn't see what he was doing. And he did this for a full two minutes, which made everyone wonder what in the world the mage was up to.

"I never expected to see this, do you have any idea what he's doing Natsu?" asked Chapati with a confused expression.

"I believe I do and if I am correct his only problem is going to be the final challenge." replied Natsu.

"So what is he doing?" asked Yajima.

"Just watch and I am sure that you're going to figure out pretty soon." stated Natsu as Hibiki deactivated his magic and cracked his knuckles while having a confident grin spread across his face. And then he took off into the course with no signs of slowing down.

"He better be careful or he might trigger one of the pressure sensors." stated Chapati who was shocked that Hibiki hadn't done it yet.

"That's not going to happen Chapati." replied Natsu.

"And how do you know that?" asked Yajima as Natsu just pointed for him to keep watching. Everyone watched as Hibiki ran straight into the lasers as if they weren't even there, but were surprised when no alarms went off. That was when everyone noticed that none of the traps were setting of the alarms when they should've been.

"Did the course break?" asked Chapati.

"Nope, he just deactivated all of the things that set off the alarm. But what I want to know is how will he deal with the creature." answered Natsu.

"This is definitely only something he could pull off." stated Yajima with a smile as the alarm went off.

"Yes it is, but unfortunately he didn't count on there being something that could trigger it manually. And I would really like to see this creature or whatever it is that just triggered the alarm." said Natsu as he looked at the two for an answer.

"Sorry Natsu but I really don't know if we'll ever get to see it." said Chapati as Rogue made his way to the start. And just like Gajeel he breezed his way through it until he came to the final challenge, where went back into a shadow and disappeared from the camera.

"Where did he go?" asked Chapati as the screen flipped to all of the cameras trying to find the mage. Only for him to casually walk out of the course with an expressionless face like he usually has.

"If I am not mistaken we have a new first place." stated Natsu with a smirk.

"Yes we do Natsu and he just beat Gajeel by twenty seconds." said Yajima.

"That only leaves Luis, so do you still think he'll be able to take first place Natsu?" asked Chapati with a grin.

"He better otherwise his training is going to be twice as hard once these games are done." he replied while Luis entered the course and instantly turned into a shadow and shot into it.

"I didn't expect him to actually be able to do that." stated Yajima as they watched the black line that was Luis zip through the course faster than anyone else so far.

"If a dragon slayer can do it then why couldn't a maker do it as well?" asked Natsu with a smug look.

"I guess I really shouldn't be that surprised." he replied. At this point Luis made it to the magic detector but shocked everyone as he continued right past it while still being in a shadow.

"How in the world did he do that?" asked Chapati.

"Sorry but only he could tell you that." replied Natsu with a smirk as Luis continued on straight to the finish line easily taking first place by a whole minute.

"Wow, I never expected to see something like that." stated Yajima with a surprised expression.

"And this is only the first event, with that the Enforcers would be in first place but since they can't get any points they have only prevented another team from getting ten points in that event." announced Chapati.

"If anyone had any doubts that they were going to be a threat to the other teams then that has completely been destroyed with how easily Luis accomplished that event." said Yajima now having a normal facial expression.

"So who's going to be the first two fighting?" asked Natsu.

"Funny that you should ask that, but the first fight is going to be between Cyrus of the Enforcers and Thibault of Twilight Ogre." answered Chapati with his usual smile.

"Shit, well this will be interesting." mumbled Natsu just loud enough for the mic to pick it up.

"And what is that about Natsu?" asked Yajima with a slight grin.

"Well you see Cyrus is not much of a talker and he'll end this fight as fast as he can." stated Natsu with sheepish grin.

"I see nothing wrong with that." stated Chapati.

"There isn't, expect for the fact that his magic is stronger than most." he replied as the course was being taken down so the fights could get started.

"What magic does he have Natsu since he's going to be using it within the next few seconds?" asked Chapati since he knew everyone was curious about what magic Cyrus has.

"He's an ice phoenix slayer, and no I am not making this up." replied Natsu as he glared at the two of them.

"I didn't know that magic like that even existed." stated Yajima.

"Just a few years ago people didn't think that dragon slayers were an actual thing, but now they seem to be everywhere." he argued still glaring at them.

"Good point Natsu, but now I have to know are there any mages on the Enforcers' team that we aren't going to be surprised about?" asked Chapati.

"Well that really depends on who you talk to. I already told you that one of them is a fire maker, another one mainly uses re-equip. We also have a water dragon slayer and the last one is a fire mage that uses a special sword that allows him to do some pretty impressive stuff." answered Natsu as they finally cleared the arena.

"You have a dragon slayer on your team?" asked Yajima wondering how strong the mage was.

"Yes we do, and he's not half bad for only becoming one recently." he stated.

"So he's a second generation dragon slayer?" asked Chapati.

"Once again yes, but Laxus has proven that they are just as strong as any other generation." said Natsu as he leaned back in his chair.

"He has certainly done that, so getting back to the upcoming fight. Am I correct that you are betting on Cyrus to win this one?" asked Yajima.

"That I do, but I expect all of the Enforcers to win their fights." he replied.

"What about them facing strong opponents such as Jura or Laxus?" asked Chapati.

"I still expect them to win, going up against a stronger opponent than me has never stopped me." he stated.

"Natsu that is an unreasonable expectation." pointed out Yajima with a frown.

"It might be, but if they aren't pushing themselves always. Then how are they ever going to grow and become better mages?" asked Natsu.

"That is something we can discuss later, but right now we have a fight to announce." stated Chapati as the two fighters entered the arena.

"So you're one of Salamander's men?" asked Thibault with a smirk as he looked at his opponent. Who was wearing a simple blue vest with grey pants and blue combat boots that were definitely custom made for him. The only other thing that he was wearing was a grey bandana and a necklace that appeared to have a talon hooked to the chain.

"Not going to even answer a simple question?" asked Thibault after Cyrus said nothing in response to his previous question.

"Commander Dragneel what percent can I use?" asked Cyrus as he looked up at Natsu.

"Hey, I am the one you're fighting and you'll need to go at one hundred percent if you want a chance at winning against me." stated Thibault as he took his giant club off of his back. But got even more infuriated that Cyrus was still looking at Natsu and didn't even seem to care about him.

"Don't go over fifty percent Cyrus since this is just a friendly fight and we wouldn't want you accidentally killing him." answered Natsu, once again shocking the crowd with his statement.

"Yes Commander Dragneel." said Cyrus as he looked back to Thibault with a bored expression just as the bell rung. Signaling the start of the fight, which was the first one of the year and looked like it was going to be interesting.

"You arrogant bastard!" shouted Thibault as he charged Cyrus with his club held over his head, ready to bring it down for a devastating blow.

"ICE PHOENIX FREEZE!" said Cyrus at what most people would consider someone's normal speaking volume. The next second everything around him in a twenty yard radius was completely covered in ice, which just so happened to include Thibault. Who was no longer able to even move a single muscle thanks to the ice surrounding him now.

"He can no longer fight, that means I win." stated Cyrus as he looked up at Natsu.

"You are correct Cyrus and I am glad that you decided to not use fifty percent even though I said you could." replied Natsu with a grin.

"I saw no need to go that far." replied Cyrus.

"Well if you could dispel your ice that would be really appreciated. Especially since Thibault it slowly running out of air as we speak." said Natsu as he looked at the frozen mage.

"Fine Commander Dragneel, but does this mean I am done for the day?" asked Cyrus who then did some quick signs with his hands and the ice instantly disappeared like it was never there. And a gasping Thibault fell to his knees trying to regain his breath.

"You are dismissed for the day Cyrus and no longer need to watch the game if you don't want to." answered Natsu while shaking his head.

"Thank you Commander Dragneel." replied Cyrus and saluted Natsu to then exit the arena without saying another word.

"What was that?" asked someone from the crowd, which everyone heard thanks to it being completely quiet.

"That was the end of the first fight of these games and Cyrus secured it with one move making Natsu's prediction of it be a quick fight true." answered Chapati.

"Like I said earlier, the Enforcers are the ones that the rest of the teams need to watch out for." said Yajima with a grin.

"You're definitely correct on that one Yajima, now moving onto the next fight of the day." replied Chapati which got the crowd cheering again.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. So first off this chapter turned out to be longer than I originally planned. And that happened because I somehow got to just under ten thousand words before I even started the event meaning that the only thing to happen was all of the guilds reactions to Natsu's new position. Which I know I could have done more of but then this chapter would have been way too long. After the event I thought I would at least do one of the fights and chose to do one that was going to be very one sided so I could easily fit it in. And don't worry they will definitely not all be like that since the Enforcers aren't the strongest mages out there and that would be boring. So now I have to ask if you guys want me to write a lot of the fights and if so who would you like to see fighting who? If not then I will probably just do the next event and maybe something else that has Natsu interacting with some of his friends that aren't Enforcers. Well that about wraps this note up so as always feel free to leave me a review or pm and I will try to reply back to you as soon as possible.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	32. Catching Up After Day One

Chapter 32: Catching Up After Day One

 **Grand Magic Games Arena:**

"And that Ladies and Gentlemen concludes the first day of the Grand Magic Games, and boy was it entertaining." announced Chapati as the audience started to get up from their seats. With most of them conversing about their favorite fight of the day or about the Enforcers that ended the day without having a single defeat to their name.

"I couldn't agree with you more on that one Chapati, but I do have some good news to share before everyone leaves. Natsu I've just been asked to see if you wouldn't mind becoming an announcer with us for the rest of the games?" asked Yajima with a grin since he already knew Natsu's answer.

"Sure why the hell not, this just means I can answer more questions from my awesome fans." he replied as a loud cheer rang out from the arena right after they heard him agree.

"There you have it folks the famous Salamander and Commander of the Enforcers will be with us each and every day of the games to share his insight on everything taking place. But don't worry everyone, this doesn't mean he won't still have other things to do during these games." cheered Chapati as another cheer resounded from the crowd.

"Things such as him accepting any challengers from the crowd, which I was just informed, will be taking place after the third day." stated Yajima now having a sly smirk as he watched Natsu's reaction to this news.

"Well that's news to me, but hey I've always been a fan of surprises which looks like it's going to keep happening to me during these games." he said with a little chuckle as he got out of his seat and headed to the edge of the announcer's booth after grabbing his blazer and hat. Causing everyone that was still in the arena to look at him and wonder what he was going to do next, most hoping that it would do something exciting as he left.

He let out a low whistle and they all watched as the Wyvern dropped its tail over the edge so it was now in front of him. So with a little smirk Natsu hopped on it and was then launched into air only for the Wyvern to then jump off of the roof and fly up towards the man he just launched into the air. And before Nasu even started to descend he landed on the back of Zacar as he let out a loud roar as they rose higher into the sky, heading to a different part of the city.

"Seems like Natsu has decided to take his leave, well I guess we should both do the same." stated Chapati before he and Yajima turned off their mics and headed out of the booth.

"He just had to have a showy exit didn't he?" asked Gray with a slight grin spread across his lips.

"He's always been really good at giving his fans what they want." stated Lucy who had a similar expression to Gray's.

"I wonder where he's heading off to." wondered Erza as she watched the wyvern descend from the sky and into the heart of the city.

"Probably to meet up with his team and give them a few hints to ensure that they don't give out any points during these games." replied Gajeel while shaking his head at how strong the two Enforcers that actually competed today were.

"Wherever he is it is guaranteed that there will be a huge crowd of people trying to talk with him or even just trying to see what he's doing. I mean it's not every day that the famous Salamander goes through a city and actually talks with his fans." stated Laxus as he headed out of their booth with a wide grin spread across his face.

"Then I think I'm going to go and say hi to him." replied Wendy with a little smirk before she jumped out of the booth to only be caught by Carla and Happy as the three of them headed off in the direction that Natsu went.

"We all should do the same." said Mira with a bright smile as she opened the door and looked back at Team Natsu. Who now all had slightly nervous looks on their faces, clearly wanting to go and talk to their ex-guild member and teammate. But they also didn't want to possibly scare him away like they unfortunately seemed to do the last few times that interacted with the dragon slayer.

"I don't know, Juvia and I kind of already had plans." responded Gray as he rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish look on his face as Juvia clung to his other arm.

"Juvia wouldn't mind saying hi to Natsu-san." she said with a bright smile as he smiled back at her with a new look of confidence on his face.

"Sorry Mira but I really don't know if he'd want to see us." stated Erza as she thought about Wendy's last comment about her always chasing him off.

"He's probably really busy and doesn't want to be bothered." said Lucy with a slight frown.

"Don't be ridiculous you two, he'll be excited to see all of you. So let's go and see him right away so we can spend as much time with him as possible." replied Mira as she grabbed both of their hands, knowing that Juvia would be dragging Gray with her to meet Natsu as well.

 **With Natsu:**

"There you go kid and if you work hard enough I bet you could easily surpass even me." Natsu stated with a grin as he tussled the boy's hair as the boy now had a huge grin on his face. While he looked up at Natsu who he saw as a hero that just signed a photo for him and even added an encouraging message to it as well when he didn't need to.

"Do you really think so Salamander?" he asked as a few of the other fans all quietly waited for the answer. The people gathered around the two right now were of all ages and genders, which wasn't really shocking considering how Natsu pretty much treated everyone the same since that was how he was raised.

"Of course I do, I mean if a screw up like me can do it that means anyone else can do it too. But of course that means you'll have to put in just as much work as I did, and let me tell you there were definitely a few times when I thought that it was too hard and wanted to just quit and almost did. And luckily during those times I had my family right behind me which gave me the strength to continue on, so if you still want to be a mage just make sure you find a good team." replied Natsu as he started to sign another fan's photo of him.

"Then that's what I'm going to do!" declared the boy as he then took off to probably go start training. This of course caused Natsu to let out a little chuckle as he went back to signing a few random things for his fans and answering a few of their questions.

"Can I touch Zacar Mr. Salamander?" asked a girl that appeared to be around Wendy's age.

"Go right ahead little lady, and might I add that you're the first one to do that. So far everyone has been too afraid to get within three feet of him." he replied while now watching the girl with brown hair stop just three feet away from Zacar and turn back to him with a confused expression on her little face. Seeing that even if he hadn't allowed her to touch the wyvern she would have done so anyways, this made him remember how he was just like that when he was the same age as her.

"Why would anyone be afraid of him?" she asked still having that confused look on her face as Zacar took in her scent now having his nose just a foot from her. Most of the crowd was completely stunned at the little girl that wanted to pet the wyvern and somehow didn't seem to even notice the beast smelling her.

"Well, I think that they just think that way because most wyverns aren't as nice as Zacar is." he answered as he took a knee in front of her.

"But why would they think that when he's with you, one of the country's strongest mage?" she asked still wondering why they wouldn't want to see the beautiful draconic creature up close like she did.

"You do have to admit that he's kind of scary looking." he replied with a little smirk as the girl turned to look at Zacar who still had his head just a foot from her and then back to him.

"Nope, he looks somewhat like those dragons that showed up at the end of the last games. And they all looked really cool and strong, which is what Zacar looks like to me." she replied as she started to pet Zacar's nose who looked to be enjoying it. Something that the wyvern confirmed when he started to talk which scared everyone except for the little girl and Natsu who couldn't help but start laughing at what he just heard.

"What did he just say?" she asked now looking at Natsu with a hopeful look, wanting nothing more than to go flying with the majestic creature. But before he could respond a loud and slightly terrified shout could be heard coming from the back of the crowd.

"Rebecca where are you?" yelled a woman as she made her way through the crowd and looked like an older version of the girl now leaning against Zacar's head and waiting for him to answer her question.

"That's your mother isn't?" he asked her as a slightly scared look came over the little girls face as remembered that she took off from her mother without telling her where she was going.

"Yes it is, but I just really wanted to see you and Zacar." she replied with a slight frown only for a silted tongue to quickly lick her little hand. Once again this caused most of the people watching to become even more concerned for the little girl who had no fear of the fire wyvern lying in the middle of the street without a care in the world. But this little action from Zacar got the little girl to let out a little giggle and completely lose the frown that had just recently taken over her face.

"Then let's bring her here so she isn't worried about you anymore. Ma'am your daughter is right over here." said Natsu with a big grin, just loud enough for the woman to hear him and turn his direction. He could instantly see the relief wash over her face at his words as the crowd parted for her to reach him, but that look of hers instantly changed as soon as she got to see her daughter.

"REBECCA!" she shouted in a panicked tone not knowing what to do as her only daughter had an arm around the head of a creature that could swallow her little girl in a single bit.

"Hi mom, this is Salamander from the games that helped announce them. And he even said that it was okay to pet Zacar, now what did he say that caused you to start laughing." said Rebecca as she waved at her mother with a big smile to then turn and look at Natsu with a determined look on her face. Once again causing him to start laughing at how fearless and determined she was to get an answer from him.

"Rebecca you can't talk to him like that, and I'm so sorry that she bothered you Commander Dragneel. Rebecca I thought that we taught you better than this, now come over here and stop pestering them." said the lady with a slightly embarrassed face, but still had the signs of relief on her features after figuring out that the wyvern was the one that Natsu rode in on. She knew that he would never bring in something that could possibly hurt innocent civilians, it was one of the reasons that the country instantly fell in love with him. Well that and his insane amount of power and good looks that is.

"It's completely fine Ma'am your daughter isn't a bother at all and she actually reminds me of myself when I was her age. And for that I'm sorry since it only means that she's going to keep doing whatever she wants to down the road." he replied with a chuckle that the lady soon joined in on much to her daughter's displeasure.

"She's quite the handful, but overall she's still a really good girl." she replied with a bright smile as she looked at her daughter still standing next to Zacar with her mouth now wide open.

"Mom, stop embarrassing me!" shouted Rebecca with a little blush now on her cheeks.

"I'm just telling Commander Dragneel the truth." she replied with a smirk as her daughter got even more embarrassed.

"Well Rebecca you're really lucky that your mom actually puts up with you if you're even half as much trouble as I was at your age. Now on to what Zacar said, he stated that you're alright in his book since you seem to understand how awesome he is. He also went on to say that if more humans are like you then he might have to admit that he was wrong about us all being spoiled little insects that think we're better than everyone else." he said with his usual toothy grin as the eyes of Rebecca actually brightened after hearing that.

"Does that mean we're friends?" asked Rebecca as she tried to hug Zacar but could barely get her arms even halfway around his head. Once again the crowd and Rebecca's mom this time where slightly scared at hearing Zacar speak, which caused a few of them to actually take a step back.

"He says that you can consider the two of you as friends if that's what you want to call it, which makes you his first human friend." Natsu translated for Zacar while he caught the scent of a few people heading their way.

"Thank you Zacar!" she cheered while continuing to hug him. "Hey wait a minute how am I his first human friend, wouldn't you be his first human friend?" she asked now looking at him with an accusing look, thinking that she was just lied to.

"You'd be correct if I was just a normal mage, but since I'm a dragon slayer I'm no longer completely human. Something that can be seen with how my magic has affected my body, such as these nice fangs I have or my great sense of smell." he answered while pointing at his fangs and then his nose.

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." she replied with a smile once again making an appearance on her face.

"Natsu-nii!" shouted Wendy as she dropped right next to him and instantly brought him into a hug.

"Hey Wendy, and it hasn't been that long has it?" he asked with a slight smirk as he hugged her with one arm as he raised the other one outwards. The crowd of fans where slightly confused until a flash of blue went past them and the knee of a large blue cat was now being held by him.

"Darn, I thought you're guard would be down because of Wendy." said Happy with a slight pout as he returned to his smaller form and landing on Natsu's shoulder.

"Common buddy, you know I'm actually harder to sneak up on if I'm with the people that I care about. And yes that means I know that the four of you have been watching me for quite some time now and you might as well come out as well." he replied, which slightly confused everyone gathered there until the Enforcer's Team, minus Cyrus, emerged from a shadow that on second look should have never been there to begin with.

"I told them that it never would have worked Commander Dragneel." stated Savage as she and the rest of the team came closer to him. Most of them looking at Zacar with a wary eye since this was also there first time being that close to him.

"What gave us away this time, because I actually checked with Asura first to make sure that you wouldn't be able to smell us with that damn nose of yours?" asked Luis as he came up to Natsu not caring about Zacar in the slightest.

"First off my nose is way better than his so you still have a ways to go on that spell. But the main thing that gave you guys away was your shadow not being in a place that a shadow could actually be with all the lights on right now." he replied while rolling his eyes at his captains. Each and every one of them had their own little quirk that made them stick out from the rest of the group, but it was definitely one of the things he really liked about life since it seemed to be a constant no matter where he went.

"Wendy I'd like to introduce you to Zacar and the rest of my team that you probably already know all of their names by now." he continued with a smirk as Wendy smiled up at him. But he was even a little surprised when she started to introduce herself to Zacar in Draconic and ask him how he was. Of course it was a little off but considering that he didn't really help her at all it was pretty good and also didn't sound nearly as scary coming from her cute little voice.

"And you'd be correct about me knowing all of them, but it's still a pleasure to meet all of you." replied Wendy with a big smile after her little chat with Zacar that everyone watched in shock.

"Now look what you did Wendy, everyone is going to be afraid of you." stated Carla as she came up to the side of Wendy in her human form. Something that took Natsu by surprise for just a second, that is until he caught her scent which was something that she wouldn't be able to change as easily as her form.

"Is that really such a bad thing Carla?" he asked with a proud grin spread across his lips as Wendy started to blush at the complement.

"Before you left I would have said no, but as you know since then she has become one of the most feared members of Fairy Tail whenever she's actually at the guild hall. Something that I never would have seen coming from a girl that used to be so shy and timid, but it's better than her being taken advantage of all the time like she probably would have been." replied the Exceed with a slight smile as she looked at him.

"Are you finally warming up to me Carla?" he asked now having a goofy grin on his face as Wendy was trying to hide her face in embarrassment because of the two of them.

"Absolutely not, but I'm willing to admit that you aren't the worst person for Wendy to look up to as a role model or older brother." she said only to then be lifted off of the ground by Natsu hugging her with a smug grin now on his face.

"Good enough for me, and as much fun as it is to talk with all of you I still have a few fans that don't get to see me as often as the rest of you." he replied before turning back to the crowd and starting to talk to them again while also starting to sign things as well.

"Are you Salamander's sister?" asked Rebecca now sitting on the neck of Zacar. This shocked most of them since they didn't even notice her up there until now. But even more surprising for them was the fact that she was sitting on Zacar like she belonged up there and acting like it was an everyday thing for her. They all quickly looked at each other to confirm that this wasn't something normal, which was easily deduced by all of their expressions, especially the face of a very concerned mother who could only sit back and watch her daughter play on the wyvern.

"Not by blood but by dragon terms we are." answered Wendy with a bright smile as she came up to Rebecca and Zacar.

"Does that mean you're not completely human either?" asked Rebecca as she looked at the dragon slayer with an eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Did Natsu tell you that?" asked Wendy a little nervous since she didn't really like thinking about how others might start treating her differently because of that.

"Yep, so are you just like him?" she asked while resting her head on one of Zacar's spikes.

"Yes I am except for I use wind instead of fire." replied Wendy, which was then followed by a squeal of delight coming from the girl that was maybe just a year younger than her.

"That's so cool, I got to meet two dragon slayers today and even became friends with Zacar here." she stated with a huge smile as she tenderly patted the neck of the wyvern she was sitting on.

"Make that three dragon slayers, but I'm one of the second generations unlike the other two." said Asura as he held out his hand for Zacar to sniff and then started to pet him since he didn't know what else to do.

"Does that mean I could become a dragon slayer like you?" asked Rebecca as she looked at him with an excited look.

"Easy now Honey, I know you want to become a mage but becoming a dragon slayer is a little too much." said her mother with a concerned look on her face.

"But it would be so awesome." she replied with a slight pout.

"I think your mom's right on this one, I actually never wanted to be one but because of certain things happening to me I ended up as one. And it was honestly one of the most painful experiences I've ever had to endure so I would first start working on becoming a mage. After that you can think about becoming a dragon slayer." he said with a grin since he could instantly tell that her mother appreciated him trying to talk her out of it.

"Really, did that happen to you as well Wendy?" she asked now looking at the other dragon slayer next to her.

"Nope but that's because I was raised by a dragon when I was really little, which is something that I don't think is going to be happening ever again." replied Wendy with a slight frown.

"Okay, then I'll just have to become a mage first." she stated once again causing her mother to let out a sigh at her stubborn daughter who was determined to become a mage even though she still hadn't shown any signs of having magic.

"That's great to hear, so what type of magic do you have right now?" asked Savage as she joined the conversation and doing the same thing that Asura did with Zacar. Once again because she was just like him didn't know what else to do with the fire wyvern, and since it worked with Asura not being attacked she decided to just follow suit.

"I don't have magic yet." replied Rebecca with a slight frown. Causing both of the dragon slayers present to start feeling bad for her and were about to start comforting her but someone else decided to beat them to it.

"That doesn't mean you should give up on that dream of becoming a mage just yet. I didn't actually start showing any signs of having magic until I was twelve years old and even then it didn't seem like I would have much. But just like with the training I was doing before then, all it took was some more time and I started to get better at it." Savage explained with a slight smile that Asura rarely ever saw on her.

"But I'm already thirteen." stated Rebecca still frowning.

"Then that just means you'll have to work even harder once you get it to catch up with those that have had it longer than you. But until then I would start work on physical training right away since that is just as important as training your magic. It's actually one of the first things that Commander Dragneel drilled into us during his first month of his training." she continued and was happy to see Rebecca give her a confident nod back in response.

"He told me the same thing." stated Wendy with a smile.

"Considering that you're his little sister that doesn't really surprise me." said Asura with a grin.

"Are you Salamander's little bother as well, which would make you to related as well?" asked Rebecca as she looked back and forth between the two now completely shocked dragon slayers as Zacar let out a deep chuckle. Or at least that is what everyone hoped and assumed was his chuckle since he just continued to lay there with a little smirk on his face.

"I wouldn't go that far, he's just teaching me right now." replied Asura as he waved his hands in front of himself defensively.

"Did he start teaching you his moves?" asked Wendy now a little curious herself.

"Nope, he said that I would have to come up with my own and that he would then help me with them. Why, is it significant if he started to teach me his own moves?" he asked back now looking at the sky dragon slayer who was trying to hold back a huge grin.

"It does but you'll probably learn why later on." she replied, glad to know that she was indeed special to Natsu since he only gave her his spells and attacks.

"Can you tell me?" asked Rebecca with a hopeful look.

"Sorry but it's a dragon slayer thing." she stated with some slight enjoyment as Rebecca started to pout after hearing that while Savage started to chuckle as her response to that little interaction she just witnessed.

"You have to be kidding me what in the world is she doing here?" asked Natsu as he stood straight up from his kneeling position that he was in while talking to a few kids. But as soon as he stood up he heard his name being shouted by two little girls running at him as fast as their legs could carry them, not caring if they accidentally bumped into anyone.

"Uncle Natsu!" yelled Asuka as she jumped at his stomach along with another little girl.

"Natsu!" shouted Emi as she and Asuka tackled him to the ground. Surprising most of the people watching since they knew Natsu wasn't someone who could easily be taken out like that, much less to two little girls.

"Asuka and Emi what in the world are you two doing here?" he asked with a huge grin as he picked both of them up and had them both on a different shoulder.

"We came to see you of course." stated Emi with a bright smile as she adjusted her hat. And then with a big grin pushed his hat down so he couldn't see and started to giggle along with Asuka at him not being able to see anymore.

"Okay, but none of you knew if I was even going to be here during these games." he replied while still having his eyes covered by his hat.

"I knew you would be here Uncle Natsu and so did a whole bunch of other people." said Asuka as she helped him readjust his hat so he could see again.

"Who else knew that I would be here?" he asked as he set Emi down and then threw Asuka up into the air at least fifteen feet up only for him to gently catch her and toss her again. During this she of course was giggling and shouting for him to toss her higher as Emi patiently waited for her turn while once again the crowd was shocked at seeing this new side of the famous Natsu Dragneel.

"I'm not stopping until you tell me who else knew I was going to be here." he stated as he tossed her the highest he's ever done before. But instead of falling back down Asuka was surprised to find herself now floating almost three stories in the air. As she turned around she was greeted with a silly grin from Happy as he held her by the shoulders.

"Happy let me go." she said with a little pout.

"Sorry Asuka but not until you tell Natsu what he wants to know." he replied while still grinning at her.

"Never!" she declared only to then start hearing Emi start giggling as Natsu started to throw her up in the air like he just did with her.

"Hey, I wanted to still be tossed in the air." she stated with a slight pout as her friend was now have a lot of fun with Natsu while she just floated there.

"Sorry Asuka but now I have to try and get the information out of Emi here since you didn't tell me." replied Nastu with a grin as Emi progressively got higher with each throw.

"So this is what you do with our children when we aren't around." stated Bisca with a smirk as she, Maria, and Chelia came to the front of the crowd.

"Yep, but I was actually thinking about taking them on a ride with me and Zacar if they wanted to. Of course I was going to make sure it was okay with the two of you before I did something that fun and dangerous." he said still grinning after tossing Emi high enough for Happy to catch her with is tail.

"Sure you were Natsu." she replied while shaking her head at him.

"I'm hurt Bisca, you know I would never do something without yours or Alzack's permission." he responded with a fake hurt expression and tone.

"So you're saying that Alzack gave you and Happy permission to toss Asuka into the air like that?" she asked thinking that she just caught him in a lie.

"Yep, isn't that right you two?" he asked while looking up at the three in the sky.

"He did mommy, and can I ride on Zacar with Uncle Natsu?" asked Asuka already using the puppy dog look on her mother. Who actually couldn't really see it but knew that even now she couldn't say no to her daughter who just wanted to have some fun with her uncle that she doesn't get to see as often as she used to.

"Can I too Mommy?" asked Emi while happily wiggling around in Happy's tail, clearly excited at the prospect of possibly riding on the wyvern.

"Can they?" asked Natsu with an excited look on his face as he looked at the two mothers. Both of them just let out a little sigh which let him know right then and there that he could get to show the two little girls why he always loved flying with Igneel so much when he was around their age.

"Mom can I ride with them also?" asked Rebecca who was surprisingly still on Zacar's back.

"Honey that's a lot to ask of Commander Dragneel." she replied knowing that her daughter was going to be sad about this for quite a while.

"No it's not, Zacar already likes Rebecca and I'm always a firm believer in the more the merrier." stated Natsu as he caught the two little girls that Happy used to be holding and set them on the ground. And as soon as their feet touched the ground they both took off towards Zacar and started to climb on him with Rebecca helping them up when they needed it.

"Are you positive?" she asked with a surprised look since he had already been extremely nice to her and her daughter and he really didn't need to keep being so nice to them.

"Absolutely, and if anyone else wants to go for a quick ride afterwards don't hesitate to ask." he responded with his usual grin while then jumping onto Zacar's back and readjusting the positions of the three girls. All of them barely able to sit still because of the excitement of getting to go flying in a few short moments.

"This is safe, isn't it Natsu?" asked Bisca who couldn't help but be slightly concerned for her daughter. Something that the two other mothers were both thinking about asking him, but were glad that she went ahead and did it for them.

"I'd be lying if I said that there weren't any risks, but with me, Happy and Carla you have nothing to worry about." he answered with a serious expression on his face.

"Who said that I would help you with this?" asked Carla as she glared at him.

"So you're saying that you would just let one of them fall and hit the ground?" he asked her back only for most of the crowd to turn to the white Exceed and wait for an answer.

"Of course I wouldn't, but that…" she started to say but got cut off.

"Then there you have it, you'll help if anything goes wrong which it won't." he stated now taking off his blazer and hat, which he threw into the crowd saying it was theirs with a little chuckle as some people started to fight over them.

"But what if it does Natsu?" asked Bisca, deciding that if she wasn't happy with what he had in place for safety. Then she would unfortunately have to take Asuka off of the wyvern for her own safety.

"Then this I'll be just one of the ways that I have in mind to prevent anyone from getting hurt." he replied only to shoot into the air and away from them. After reaching a good distance and height they all watched as his flames disappeared and he started to fall has he shouted out Happy's name. They all had to brace themselves as a large gust of wind shot from the blue Exceed as he disappeared and caught Natsu easily before he even came close to hitting the ground.

"And if that wasn't enough then I also thought that this would be a really good solution. Wendy do you trust me?" he asked now having a mischievous grin on his face as he looked at the younger dragon slayer.

"Of course I do Natsu-nii." she replied with a happy smile.

"Alright, then what I need you to do is jump into the air and let me punch the bottom of your feet. That should definitely send you flying, after that you don't have to do anything and I promise that I'll get you before anything bad happens." he explained, but rather than her responding she jumped into the air and started to come down at him with her feet together. So with his usual grin Natsu took a flaming fist and launched her straight back into the sky at shocking speeds.

"Wow I didn't know Wendy could fly like that." stated Asuka as she watched Wendy soar higher and higher into the sky.

"She's not flying, this idiot just hit her away!" shouted Carla as she was about to start yelling at Natsu only to find that he was gone.

"Natsu's with her now." stated Emi with a slightly confused expression as the two of them disappeared only to then reappear at the spot where he once stood just moments ago. But he now had Wendy in his arms and an even bigger grin on his face than he did before.

"I thought you couldn't teleport?" asked Wendy as she was set down.

"I can't, but after doing a little more experimenting I can pretty much teleport anywhere within my eyesight thanks to adding a little lightning to the flames that I can then teleport to." he explained as he made his way back over to Zacar who was actually standing now still with the three girls on his back.

"I guess I'm still okay with you taking them out on a little flight." stated Maria as the two other mothers nodded their heads in agreement.

"That's great, there's room for two more if you and Chelia want to join Wendy." he stated while turning back to look at the two of them once again looking as if he was really excited at the idea of them joining in on the fun.

"I'd love to, come on Chelia!" cheered Wendy as she grabbed her friend's hand and started to drag her along before she could even reply. Knowing full well that she definitely wanted to go along as well but was most likely going to try and turn it down since she didn't want to be a bother to them.

"Great, now let's go and have some fun!" he cheered while hoping onto Zacar and then saying something to him in draconic as the last two joined them. Whatever he said to him got the wyvern to let out a roar before launching into the air leaving behind the large crowd that got to listen to most of the passengers of the back of the wyvern letting out screams of joy.

"Don't tell me that we just missed him." said Mira with a sad look on her face as she burst through the crowd and watched the wyvern flying off to another part of the town.

"That you did Mira." stated Savage with a slight grin, knowing that the poor lady was going to assume that he wasn't going to becoming back within a few minutes.

"Sorry Mira, if we didn't slow you down then you would have gotten here on time." said Erza with a frown, since she could only assume that Natsu left because of them.

"It's fine Erza, I'll see him sometime later." she replied still having a slightly sad look on her face as she continued to watch the wyvern soar through the sky.

"What in the world are you two talking about, he's going to be returning in just a little bit." stated Asura with a smirk as he stood next to Savage. Still in his Enforcer's uniform, unlike his fellow captain who was wearing the same outfit that she wore when she accidentally ran into the mages of Fairy Tail before. But this time she was proudly displaying the medallion that showed her as one of the captains of the Enforcers since they were public knowledge now.

"And how do you know something like that." asked Erza as she glared at the two of them. More so at Savage since she was still a little upset about having someone lie directly to her face like Savage did back then, even if it was something that she was forced to do.

"Settle down Erza, he's correct about Natsu coming back since he just so happens to have all of our little girls with him." stated Bisca as she gestured to the two other mothers next to her.

"He also has that pink haired girl and Wendy with him as well." said Savage with a little smirk since she could tell that she was already underneath Erza's skin. Something that she was definitely going to use to her advantage if she happened to run into said mage during the upcoming days of the Grand Magic Games.

"Do you know what his plans are after that?" asked Mira now having a smile spread across her beautiful face.

"He said something about letting other people go on rides with him and Zacar, but that's only if he has anymore takers." she replied while looking at the crowd that was intensely watching the wyvern soaring through the sky.

"It looks like they might be waiting to see how the first group liked it." stated Gray with a grin as he too looked at the surprisingly large crowd.

"Juvia wouldn't mind taking a ride with her Gray-sama if he's willing to that is." replied Juvia with a slight blush and in a nervous tone.

"If that's what you want then there is no harm in asking." he replied while smiling at how happy she became at hearing him agree to that.

"Honestly I wouldn't mind learning how it feels to fly." stated Savage with now wide eyes since the wyvern was doing some fancy moves that could easily end with one of the riders falling off.

"I'd have to agree with you on that one." said Asura now having a smirk since he knew that Natsu wouldn't be able to just take that group on a normal flight.

"Why are you still in your uniform?" asked Lucy since she noticed that he and Luis were the only ones to not change out of them after the opening ceremony.

"I've been wearing it for the past few months and it's grown on me." he replied without even looking at her.

"Where is the rest of your team?" asked Erza as she looked for the other four members that were nowhere to be seen at the moment.

"That's a good question since there used to be three more of you." stated Rebecca's mom.

"Who didn't decide to come with you guys right away?" asked Gray, hoping that they might be fighting for some reason. And if they were he was hoping to possibly use it against them, because he along with all of the other guilds could easily tell that they were going to be really hard competition.

"That would be Cyrus, if you couldn't tell he's someone that likes to be by himself for some reason. The only person he really talks to apparently is Commander Dragneel." answered Savage as she shook her head.

"Grace you know that it's fine to call him Natsu since we're still off duty. I mean how many times do we need to remind you that?" asked Asura with a little smirk that was instantly gone thanks to a hard hit to his shoulder.

"I know that, but Commander Dragneel said he was fine with us calling him whatever we wanted while not on duty. And for me it just so happens to be Commander Dragneel, so I expect this to be the last time that we have this discussion." she replied while glaring at him, which only caused the water dragon slayer to start chuckling.

"I still can't believe that Natsu is now running his own division of the Council that is an elite group of mages." stated Erza, as a few of his dumber moments flashed through her mind. But thinking back on it those times always resulted in everyone laughing and having a really good time usually at the expense of Natsu being hurt by either her or by whatever he was trying to do.

"Come on Erza, you knew that he was eventually going to surpass all of us." said Mira with a bright smile as it looked like the wyvern was heading their way.

"I did, but I always thought that he would be at Fairy Tail." she replied with a slight frown.

"As Wendy has made it evidently clear since he's left, we're the only ones to blame for that happening." pointed out Lucy with a sad smile, clearly trying to not let it get to her but failing terribly at it.

"Come on you two, it's not like he's dead and I hate to say this but Gajeel and Laxus could be right about what they said earlier. I mean just look at what that idiot has done while not being a member of our guild." he stated with a grin, but was shocked when a sword appeared right in front of his throat.

"I think it would be smart of you to not speak ill of my commander like that again." hissed Savage as her rapier remained pressed up against his throat. Not caring that ever other Fairy Tail mage there were now ready to attack her if need be.

"Easy Savage, he doesn't know how defensive you are about Natsu. Also you need to remember that when he and Natsu were still in the same guild he was kind of an idiot." stated Asura only to then start dodging a few attacks sent his way that he was just barely parrying with his own sword. This caused all of the Fairy Tail mages to look on in shock as the two continued at it until Savage finally gave Asura a small cut on the side of his right arm which instantly caused both of them to stop.

"What in the world just happened?" asked Lucy, something that everyone there was also thinking.

"Oh just our way of settling little disputes between us, it's also a good way to make sure that we're always still on our toes." replied Savage with a little smile.

"You two looked like you were trying to kill each other." stated Mira with a concerned look on her face, even though she really didn't know them that well didn't mean she wanted them to kill each other.

"Natsu says that you should put everything you have into each fight that you do otherwise it could easily turn into your last. And I'm surprised that he's not back yet." said Asura as he started to scan the skies for the wyvern.

"That definitely sounds like him, and of course he'd have it where you settle most disputes with fighting." said Erza now actually having a genuine smile on her face.

"It's surprisingly smart since at least for me during most of my fights I realize how stupid it actually was to even start fighting about it. Probably one of the reasons that he wants us to settle them that way and set the rule of whoever draws first blood wins." explained Savage now looking at the smiles of the Fairy Tail mages.

"So whoever draws first blood wins the argument. So you just won against Asura, but I honestly don't even know what you two were fighting about." said Lucy now with a slightly confused expression.

"That she did, which means she can still be as defensive about Natsu as she wants. But I also won since she also knows that she was definitely over reacting with her response to Gray saying what he did about him." explained Asura as he headed towards a boy that was staring at him for a while now. All of them were then slightly shocked to see him kneel down and start chatting with the boy and even getting him to start laughing.

"Does he do that often?" asked Bisca with a warm smile as she watched the dragon slayer interact with the boy in a similar way to how Natsu acts with Asuka.

"Honestly this is the first time I've ever seen it, but considering that for the last six months we were pretty much just training in a secret facility. We never really got to see how we all acted when out in public and not on duty." answered Savage.

"You know you didn't answer Erza's question about where the rest of your team is." pointed out Gray with a sly grin.

"Gray-sama is correct, but if you don't want to talk about it Juvia understands." said Juvia with a smile that never seemed to leave her face when she was holding hands with Gray like she was right now.

"Oh its fine, Toshi and Luis are probably fighting each other somewhere since they have a stupid rivalry between them. As for Cole, honestly I don't know where that kid is, he's probably back to training so that if any of us slip up at all he'll be able to step in as the new captain." replied Savage now having a slight smirk as she caught something in the sky above them.

"Are you saying that you could lose your position as captain?" asked Erza in a shocked tone.

"Yep, it's just another way Commander Dragneel is keeping us on our toes. Every position could easily be taken away from you if you don't try hard to keep it, even the Lieutenants have to work hard to keep their positions." she said while starting to clear out an area in the middle of the street.

"You guys have Lieutenants?" asked Lucy.

"I thought that information was released to the public. Well if it wasn't then I'm confident that Commander Dragneel's friends are capable of keeping it a secret until it is. And yes we do, each Captain has their own company that has fifty members. Those fifty members are then broken down to ten squads that have five members with one of them as the Lieutenant who is in charge of the other four which allows us to be surprisingly organized in our attacks." she explained while finally getting the last civilians out of the area that she was clearing out.

"I didn't think the Council would organize your division like that." stated Erza since she knew probably more about the Council than most of the mages at Fairy Tail.

"They didn't, that was all under the orders of Commander Dragneel. And considering his experience in dealing with dark guilds they were more than happy to let him do whatever he wanted with us. Unfortunately that meant going through his hellish workout and exercises but we all knew that he was only doing that to get us ready for the real deal." she replied with a fond smile.

"You all really respect him don't you?" asked Lucy with a smile of her own.

"How could we not, he pretty much has saved the country single handedly on more than one occasion already. But unlike most people he just shrugged that off and didn't let it go to his head while he continued to keep protecting what he holds dear to him which was mainly Fairy Tail. Well until he left you guys for some reason, but even now he still really cares about all of you there and would do almost anything to protect you guys. I think it's one of the reasons that he's doing all of this so he can try to get rid of more dark guilds faster than he could on his own." she responded while not looking at the Fairy Tail mages. That meant that she didn't see some of them having shameful expressions at a certain point or the bright smiles they all had upon hearing that he still really cared about the whole guild. Even though it was something that they all knew it was still good to hear it from someone who Natsu has been spending a lot of his recent time with.

"He's definitely one of a kind." stated Mira with a loving smile now on her face.

"That he is, now everyone should get ready for his landing." she said causing all of them to look up just in time to see a falling object burst into flames and slow down just enough to only make a small crater on impact. That resulted in dust shooting everywhere so everyone gathered there couldn't see the state of Natsu after making such a landing.

"That was so much fun Uncle Natsu." cheered Asuka from inside the dust.

"Can we do it again Natsu?" asked Emi who also sounded really excited.

"Are you two crazy, both of your mothers would kill me if they learned about this." he replied in a slightly scared tone which shocked most of the people there. All except for two mothers that were now angry at the dragon slayer since whatever just happened must have been pretty bad to already have him afraid of them.

"Come on Natsu, it was really fun." stated Rebecca, making it a total of four people still inside of the dust cloud that was just now dispersing.

"No, and I don't know your mom that well but I am confident that she also wouldn't be too happy with you either." he stated while looking at the girl clinging to his back.

"Then we won't tell them Uncle Natsu." stated Asuka with a huge smile as she looked up at him from her position held securely under one of his arms.

"If we promise to keep it a secret can we do it again?" asked Emi who was in the same position as Asuka just under his other arm.

"Absolutely not, and that's because I'm pretty sure that all of your parents have just heard everything." he replied with a little smirk as a look of horror crossed all of the girls faces when they looked to see each of their mothers glaring at the little group.

"Natsu what in the world happened?" asked Bisca, having zero problems with lecturing the dragon slayer when it concerned her daughter.

"Why don't you ask your little trouble maker since it was all her idea when she figured out that we were done with our little ride." he answered while gently setting the two down that he had in his arms as Rebecca got off of his back.

"Oh no you don't Rebecca, I'm not letting you just run away this time when obviously you joined in on whatever happened." stated her mother as Rebecca tried to sneak into the crowd while the attention wasn't on her.

"Okay." replied Rebecca in a sad tone as she headed out in front of Natsu.

"What did you do Asuka?" asked Bisca, not finding it very hard to believe that her daughter was the ring leader of whatever happened.

"Nothing mommy, and we're all fine see." she replied while doing a little twirl showing that she was indeed completely fine.

"Sorry Honey, but that's not going to cut it this time. Now tell me what you did since you seemed to have gotten Emi and Rebecca to join you." stated Bisca just as the crowd let out a little scream as Zacar landed in front of them. And the next second Wendy was in front of Asuka and the other two hugging them.

"Thank god you're all alright." she said with a huge smile.

"Wendy I told you that Natsu had it covered." stated Happy as he landed on Natsu's head.

"But what if he didn't." she replied in a harsh tone, once again causing the parents to become even more curious at what their daughters did just moments ago.

"It doesn't matter since he did and he didn't even have to teleport." said Carla as she gracefully landed next to Wendy.

"I can't believe that you aren't more upset at this Carla." stated Wendy with a slightly shocked look on her face.

"It was somewhat to be expected since they look up to him as a role model." she replied while nodding her head towards Natsu.

"Hey, don't put this one me." he replied defensively while waving his hands in front of him.

"You three better start talking now." stated Bisca as she glared at the daughter specifically.

"We jumped off." mumbled Asuka as she looked at her feet.

"You did what?" she asked with a terrified look in her eyes.

"We jumped off of Zacar's back and it was so much fun to be flying through the air by yourself." explained Emi with a slight smile.

"You were actually just falling." clarified Happy with a little grin.

"You're definitely not helping buddy." stated Natsu as he looked up at his little buddy who just shrugged his shoulders in response and then pulled out a fish and started to eat it with a content expression making its way across his face.

"All three of you just jumped off, why in the world would you do something like that?" asked Maria as she tried to keep a serious face but was having a hard time since Emi was so happy right now.

"Because it sounded fun and we knew that Natsu would catch us, Asuka even told him to." answered Emi still smiling at her mom.

"All three of you did something that dangerous because you thought it would be fun?" asked Bisca, who was angrier that her daughter got two other girls to do something so dangerous.

"I actually just jumped onto Natsu's back as he jumped off after them." stated Rebecca with a smile that she instantly lost.

"That's not any better." replied her mother with an upset look.

"I'm sorry and it won't happen again." apologized Asuka knowing that she wasn't going to get out of this one without at least apologizing.

"Oh no it won't, and that's because you won't be going on any more rides with Uncle Natsu for a really long time." stated Bisca with a stern look as Asuka looked up at her with a shocked expression.

"But I said I was sorry." replied Asuka, thinking that she would be in the clear as long as she did that.

"It's good that you understand what you did was wrong Asuka, but you have to be punished for getting these two to join you on such a dangerous plan. And the best way to do that is by not letting you go flying again until I say so." stated her mother still having a stern look.

"But that's not fair, Uncle Natsu tell her that's not fair." she said while turning to look at him.

"Sorry Asuka, but I have to agree with your mother and you're lucky she is only doing that to you. I said right away that you all had to hold onto Zacar the whole time, but you went and did the exact opposite and even got them to join you. And I know I'm not the best person to be telling you this since I've done a lot of reckless things in my time, but you have to be careful otherwise someone else might get hurt when you do them." he explained with a stern look that he never really used on her.

"Sorry Uncle Natsu." she apologized now looking at her feet, now almost in tears because he was upset with her. But before she could even start shedding them she was brought into a hug by him, letting her bask in his warmth that she found comforting like so many other people.

"It's okay Asuka, your mother and I are just really concerned about your safety. And remember mistakes like these are just different ways that we learn life lessons." he replied while giving her his usual grin as she looked up at him with teary eyes.

"Also it was pretty fun wasn't it?" he asked her in a whisper so only she could hear him, which instantly brought back a smile to her face as she nodded in response.

"Good to see that you're still causing a scene wherever you go." stated Gray with a smug look on his face.

"And I'd say it's good to see that you're still stripping but that would be a complete lie since Juvia is the only one here that wants to see that." he replied with a smirk as he stood back up and looked at his old rival that had a completely red faced Juvia clinging to him while holding most of his clothes that he stripped out of over who know how long it's been. Gray's response was to start chuckling at this since it was honestly the best response he could have hoped for after everything that's happened between the two of them.

"It truly is good to see you still having fun." stated Erza with a soft smile.

"Come on guys, of course I'm still going to cut loose ever now and then which just so happens to be the case today." he stated while coming up to his old team.

"I knew you'd be fine and congratulations on the impressive job by the way." said Lucy with a bright smile since Natsu actually looked happy to see them. Just like he did when he visited them a month ago at Fairy Tail, but at that time she honestly didn't know if he was just acting again like he apparently did while still a member at the guild.

"Yeah it will definitely keep me busy during most of the year, especially if Fairy Tail continues to give the Council some trouble." he replied with one of his signature grins that made them all think it was just like the old times.

"Well that's something you can definitely count on since these guys will no longer be trying to find you." stated Mira with a big smile as she came up to him and gave him a big hug. And she was extremely happy when he reciprocated it and chose to keep her incased in his arms after she was done hugging him.

"Good, because if Fairy Tail isn't causing trouble then it's not really Fairy Tail in my opinion." he said with a little chuckle as he looked at her in eyes and was slightly getting lost in them.

"Are they dating yet?" Emi asked Asuka in what she thought was a quiet whisper but was anything but that.

"Yep, my mom says they are still just denying it like she did with my dad." replied Asuka with a bright smile as Mira started to blush at all the attention she and Natsu were getting right now.

"I think you should probably let me go anytime now Natsu." she said in an embarrassed tone while looking back into his onyx eyes.

"Is that what you honestly want Mira, because if it is I'd be more than happy to do so. But if it isn't then I'm going to stay like this for as long as I want." he replied with a sly grin as her face now had a deeper tint of pink to it.

"No, I really like it actually." she mumbled while then resting her head against his chest.

"Me too." he stated while enjoying Mira finally being this close to him. Something that he knew he missed but didn't know how much until they were in a position like this with neither of them wanting to separate anytime soon. But of course being like that in the middle of the street surrounded by their friends and his fans definitely wasn't the ideal location for it.

"Just take her back to your hotel suite already you two love birds!" shouted Asura with a grin who was in the middle of a crowd that he had been explaining what he actually does as an Enforcer to. While also showing them what his uniform consists of and every once and a while doing a few spells for them, which usually were just water spells and not any of his slayer ones since he was still not very experienced with them.

"Not that bad of an idea, but unfortunately I promised to give a few rides and talk to a few of the people still here." he whispered into Mira's ear before finally separating from her.

"Alright everyone, I have room for four passengers if anyone still wants to go on a ride with Zacar and me." he stated with his usual grin.

"Why just four, you took five with you last time?" asked someone from the crowd.

"Well that's because I have to have my co-pilot with me." he answered with a smirk as he pulled Mira right next to him by the waist and caused her to let out a little yelp in surprise.

"But I never said I wanted to ride with you." she stated once again trying to not blush at how upfront he was being with her right now.

"You didn't have to, but if you really don't want to I'm pretty sure I could get some other beautiful woman to come with me." he stated with a sly smirk only for her to now start glaring at him.

"You wouldn't dare." she declared while letting out a little of her magic that caused most of the men to start backing away while wondering what Natsu said. The woman on the other hand had a pretty good idea what he most likely said to Mira and were either glaring at him or had slight smiles on their faces thinking that they might have a chance with the man. The Fairy Tail mages all had smiles since they could tell that this was just what the two did with each other since they both seemed to be very opposed to actually saying how they felt about the other for some reason.

"I don't know Mira; apparently I have three other gorgeous women that would be perfect candidates according the public. And we both know that Minerva has been pretty upfront about her intentions with me, so I might just go and see what she's up to." he responded since it was literally one of the few times that he could actually turn the tables on Mira like this.

"That shank will have to get through me first!" she hissed with a very upset expression. "But that was a hypothetical situation since I'm going to be riding with you from here on out." she finished now using that smile that most people would describe as beautiful, but members of Fairy Tail knew what was lying underneath it. Something that no one would ever want to deal with since it usually meant an immense amount of pain for whoever did.

"That is was, so let's go!" said Natsu with his usual grin as he swept her up bridle style and jumped onto the back of Zacar positioning Mira so she was now sitting on his lap.

"Come on guys." said Mira with a bright smile as she looked over at some of her friends knowing that they definitely wanted to take him up on this offer but were still a little nervous.

"Can I mommy?" asked Asuka with a big smile as she looked up at Bisca.

"Of course you can't, you're still in trouble for what you did just a few minutes ago." she responded while shaking her head.

"Rats, I was hoping you forgot already." stated Asuka with a slight frown.

"Would it be okay if I joined Commander Dragneel?" asked Savage with a slight smile.

"Of course you can." he replied as he and Mira smiled back at her.

"If you want Grace you can sit on my lap like Mira is doing with Natsu." suggested Asura who was already on the back of Zacar and looking like he was a kid in a candy store at the moment.

"Over my dead body." hissed Savage as she hoped on and got into the spot right behind Natsu.

"Had to try, but it would seem that another man has already caught your eye." he replied with a very sarcastic tone as he leaned back against one of Zacar's spikes like it was a chair.

"Just two more." stated Natsu, already completely used to his subordinates acting like that to each other.

"Juvia and Gray-sama would love to go." said Juvia as she drug a slightly reluctant Gray with her.

"Then hop on you two and get ready for one of the best experiences possible." he replied with his usual grin as the two climbed on. With Zacar jumping into the air before Juvia could get to her own spot which forced her to be on Gray's lap. Something that the Gray was completely fine with, except for the fact that this only happened to them because of the unofficial couple up front.

 **Several hours later as the sun was starting to set:**

"Sorry everyone but that was the last ride for the day and maybe for the next few days since Zacar here is a little grumpy." said Natsu with a little chuckle as he punched Zacar on the shoulder. Who then let out what anyone normal would describe as an angry roar and then flew off without Natsu and kept going until he disappeared leaving behind a clearly amused dragon slayer.

"What did he say Wendy?" asked Chelia in just a whisper.

"I think that he said Natsu was a jerk for making him some sort of amusement ride and that he'd be back in a few days." replied Wendy with a little smirk since she knew Natsu only did that to get Zacar to warm up to humans more and possibly get some time apart from him. She thought he did all this to warm Zacar up to humans because during the course of the last few hours a lot of kids where hugging the wyvern after going on a fun flight with him and telling him how much they liked him for allowing them to do that.

"Wasn't he supposed to be with you at all times like a body guard?" asked Lucy with a slightly concerned look in her eyes.

"When have I ever needed something like that?" asked Natsu back with a slightly hurt expression.

"The better question would be when haven't you needed something like that Natsu. And before you start arguing I know you've done just fine on your own but you'd have to admit that it is always easier when you have someone watching your back." stated Mira with a loving smile as they once again where hugging each other.

"Whatever." he scoffed while looking away from her.

"Sorry Commander Dragneel but you pretty much told all of us that exact same thing during the first week of our training. And don't worry Mira, he's got his whole division looking out for him now and we would never let anything bad happen to him." stated Savage with a determined look on her face.

"I did say that didn't I." he stated with a slight grin.

"That you did Natsu, well as fun as it is to be with all of you I have some other friends that I need to figure out what they're up to." stated Asura as he turned away and started to walk away from the group.

"Don't destroy anything otherwise you know what the consequences are." stated Natsu as he gave the retreating dragon slayer a stern look.

"Yeah, Yeah, we all know that the only acceptable time for damage is when lives are on the line. And I don't ever plan to be put through that torture you call training ever again." he replied with a wave of his hand.

"What kind of training would he actually call torture and since when do you care about destroying things Natsu?" asked Erza with a smile, glad that she and the rest of her team could actually talk with him like they used to without the fear of him possibly taking off and not returning.

"Nothing much, it's just what I do for my usual training every other day. But apparently it's a really good way of punishing my troops for getting a little carried away. As for the whole not destroying stuff, well that kind of comes with the whole being in charge of keeping guilds in line thing. So it wouldn't be a good idea if we were always constantly destroying things now would it?" he asked with a little smirk as their group started to walk to wherever he was leading them.

"I guess you definitely have a point there." she replied still extremely happy that things were somewhat back to normal between them.

"Yeah the Council was pretty strict on that point but I made them agree that if lives there were at stake then it doesn't really matter what me or my team destroys." he stated with a smug look.

"And they actually agreed to that?" asked Lucy in disbelief since the Council was always concerned about that.

"Not completely, I'll have to pay a small portion of the repair costs but that's better than my troops not doing something that could possibly save lives because of something as dumb as being concerned about losing a few jewels. Saving lives is one of the main reasons for my division to even exist, and is also something that I made sure was one of the top priorities of each of my members." he explained with a proud grin now displayed on his face.

"You're actually doing that for us?" asked a shocked Savage who most of them thought walked off with Asura.

"That I am and I'd prefer if you didn't tell the rest of them about it since I honestly don't want any of you to be concerned about it." he replied while giving her a quick glance.

"But that could cost you tons of jewels given how much damage our division is capable of doing." she stated still with a shocked look on her face.

"I only have to pay a small fraction of it, which is only supposed to remind me to not let you guys go overboard all the time. Also I have more jewels than I know what to do with since people apparently really want my clothes and the Council is also throwing it at me as well. I think everyone but the Chairman thinks I might just randomly leave if they don't keep me happy." he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"You can't really blame them since you kind of did that with Fairy Tail." said Mira from his side as they continued to walk down the streets with his arm around her.

"Good point, but that should only make it more clear to them that jewels are not the way to go about it then." he stated with a slightly sad expression flashing over his face as he thought about his departure from his old guild.

"Don't worry Commander Dragneel the rest of the troops won't hear of this from me." stated Savage while also giving him a quick salute, that caused him to smile at her.

"It would seem that they are doing everything else that they can to try and keep you happy Natsu. Of course they are also getting you to deal with most of the things that they have never really wanted to deal with. While also looking good in the process." pointed out Erza with a neutral expression since it was a part of politics.

"Nobody really gets anything for free these days. And in this instance both sides of this agreement are getting exactly what they want which for me is the Council finally becoming an organization that has the people of Fiore as their main point of concern. While the Council on the other hand will hopefully once again earn the trust of citizens and will become the ones that everyone looks to in a time of crisis so it's a win-win in my opinion which doesn't happen too often." he replied as they came to the front of a very expensive looking hotel.

"That's very true but I'm kind of surprised to hear you saying that." stated Mira.

"Which part?" he asked with an eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Pretty much the whole thing." she answered with a kind smile.

"I can see that since I was always and still plan to do things for people without expecting anything in return from them. But I've always known that isn't really how things actually work in this world, which is something that I've come to accept." he said with a slight frown.

"Not to ruin this sagely moment of yours, but what in the world are we doing outside of a place like this?" asked Gray as he looked at the hotel he could only assume costed Lucy's rent just to stay one night in it.

"Oh this is just where my division and I are staying while in town so I kind of just naturally led us here since this is where all of them are located right now. But seeing how our group has slimmed down quite a bit I think I know just what to do before we call it a night." he answered now having a mischievous look in his eyes that most of them were quite familiar with.

"And what would that be Natsu?" asked Chelia, one of the few people in their group who didn't know what that look he had right now usually meant for them.

"How would all of you like to visit my castle, which will soon be the Headquarters for the Enforcers?" he asked with his toothy grin that most of them missed seeing on a daily basis like they used to.

"It would be an honor Commander Dragneel." stated Savage having the biggest smile any of them have ever seen on her yet.

"I'd love to Natsu-nii." cheered Wendy as she then hugged him.

"I would like to see this new place of yours as well." said Mira as she couldn't help but start thinking about how she would most likely have to make it an actually livable place for them. And as soon as she thought that she couldn't help but start blushing because she was thinking of the two of them as a thing more often, but luckily no one noticed it so she was able to get rid of it before anyone did.

"Are you sure you want to do that Natsu, I thought its location was going to remain a secret?" asked Lucy.

"Yeah Natsu, you didn't help me catch any fish for a week after I accidentally told them about it." shouted Happy now pointing an accusing finger at his best friend.

"Easy there buddy and its location will still remain a secret because honestly I don't even know where it exactly is right now." he stated with a little chuckle.

"How in the world did you forget something like that?" asked Gray as he rolled his eyes at him.

"Gray-sama you shouldn't say such things about Natsu-san after finally patching things up with him." scolded Juvia, only for her to stop due to Natsu starting to chuckle at her.

"Its fine Juvia, honestly it's kind of nice to not be treated as someone special every now and again. And to answer your question Gray, the reason that I don't know where the island is at right now is thanks to the damn thing moving on its own." he explained and only received blank stares from all of them.

"Did you say it's actually moving on its own?" asked Chelia, being the first one to recover from that shocking bit of information.

"That I did, and it doesn't surprise me that you, Mira and Savage are shocked by this. But come on the rest of you we've actually been to a completely different world where they literally had islands floating it the sky. So how in the world are you finding a moving island in the ocean so unbelievable?" he asked with a smirk as his old team now realized he was correct about that.

"So is that why no one actually knows where it's?" asked Erza coming to that realization after accepting that he wasn't joking with them about it moving.

"Probably, makes me wonder how many people where called crazy when they tried to lead someone back to it only for it to no longer be there. I bet it's actually at a pretty high amount over the years now." he replied clearly amused by the thought.

"Wait, if you don't know where it is how to you plan to get back there Commander Dragneel?" asked Savage, which everyone realized was a very valid question.

"First off I could easily follow my nose to where ever it's hiding now, which is what I assume Igneel and the wyverns still there did whenever they left for some other business. But for us I plan to teleport all of us there with my fire since I have some of my flames being attended there constantly and I also now know it's possible to teleport others thanks to Wendy trusting me earlier today." he answered only for Carla to start hitting him.

"You tried something that dangerous for the first time today on Wendy!" she shouted while continuing to hit him on the leg since she was back in her smaller form.

"Carla its fine since nothing bad happened." stated Wendy with a nervous chuckle since if she knew that beforehand she probably would have been too afraid to agree to it like she did.

"See Carla, now it's time to try a large group teleportation." he stated with his grin growing bigger.

"Are you sure this is safe Natsu?" asked Lucy clearly starting to panic at the thought of it somehow going terribly wrong.

"Seventy percent sure, alright everyone come in a little closer." he said instantly seeing that most of them were not too thrilled about the odds that he just gave them. But even with that being the case for them they all did as he told them to and got closer to him and Mira since she was still right by his side.

"I swear to god Natsu if this goes wrong I'll make you pay." stated Erza as she glared at him.

"Glad that I have your support Erza, what about you stripper any threats that you want to throw my way?" asked Natsu with a little smirk.

"Nope, I'm kind of hoping that you completely fail at this and we're still standing here after you try this." replied Gray with a smug grin that Natsu used to see every day before they started to fight.

"Alright, fair warning you all might be a little sick after this." he stated as his magic started to build up.

"Wait a minute Natsu you never said anything about getting sick." shouted Lucy while trying to get out from the middle of the group but having no luck thanks to Gray and Erza.

"Come on Lucy, he had to put up with riding trains for years." stated Mira with an evil little smirk spread across her lips.

"Yeah but that's because he's a dragon slayer." she protested as all of them were now coated in his flames.

"Well then it might be the correct time to inform all of you that I'm pretty sure that dragon slayers won't be negatively affected by this." he said as all of them now had a look of horror on their faces except for Wendy and Mira for some reason. But before any of them could protest most of them felt like something large and heavy formed inside of their stomachs as they then disappeared from the front of the hotel with the last thing being heard from the group was Natsu laughing heartily to himself.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I know it's been a long time since I've updated this one and that this chapter was probably not what you guys wanted. But for some reason I felt like having a chapter with most of it being pretty upbeat and happy since it shows that Natsu has pretty much completely moved on and no longer holds anything against them anymore. Granted there probably are a few things that he's buried down again but that's just something that at least I think most people do when a big fight like this one happens. Well onto what I usually do in these notes, which is usually ask a question while also telling you what my plans for the next chapter are so that just in case I'm doing something really stupid you'll be able to let me know. So the next chapter might have a little scene with just Natsu and Mira at the beginning where they could possibly take their relationship one step farther, but that is of course still in the air. The other thing that will probably have happen is me covering the next two days of the Grand Magic Games which means that there isn't much time left to let me know who you would like to see fighting each other or possibly pitching me ideas of what the events could be for each day. Well as always I would like to inform you all that I'm always excited to receive a review or PM from my readers and answer the questions that they might have for me.**

 **So a quick heads up on something that I'm going to do which will hopefully allow me to update these stories quicker, something that a few of you have been asking for, if you'd like to find out what I'm planning on doing** **check out my profile since I don't want to waste any more of your time than I already have with this sentence here at the end.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


	33. Base of Operations

Chapter 33: Base of Operations

 **Unknown location just outside the country of Fiore:**

Over the last month a certain island just off the coast of Fiore started to undergo a lot of changes thanks to it having its first human visitor in at least a decade. And that human was none other than Natsu Dragneel, who also just so happened to be the only living heir of the Fire King Igneel. Making him the rightful heir of the dragon's estate, that just so happens to be on said island that just now had a few more unexpected visitors. Well, unexpected visitors at least for the fire wyverns that have been living there and waiting years for the day that their king would return to them.

Only for all of them to instead be shocked when a pink haired human came waltzing in a little over a month ago and easily handing their asses to them. And during that encounter with the young man, none of them could deny that he was in fact the son of the great and powerful Igneel. Because no fire mage, despite however hard he tried, could come even close to replicating the flames that came from their late king. Something that Natsu could not only do, but somehow he did it so well that some of the wyverns thought they were actually coming from Igneel.

So for the next full month after that fateful day the wyverns helped the son of Igneel restore his estate to its former glory. And even that wasn't enough time or manpower to get the enormous castle to the pristine condition that it once was many years ago. They did however get it to a livable state which was all that Natsu really wanted at the time being, because he honestly didn't feel right about having the fire wyverns do all of the work only for others to benefit from them. It should also probably be noted that the remaining work were just small touch ups and getting the place furnished to his liking. Both of which were probably not ideal for wyverns to try and accomplish by themselves.

And because of that and having worked for most of the last month without stopping, most of the wyverns at the moment were sprawled out across the main hall. None of them expecting to see the son of Igneel any time soon, but they were soon going to find out that he liked doing the unexpected whenever the opportunity presented itself. Since they didn't know this about him yet, they were all caught off guard when his fire in the middle of the room started to grow in size. Only for it to then spit out a group of humans that they had no clue as to who they might be other than friends of their new ruler.

Who casually stepped out of his own flames with a woman on each side and two exceeds floating just over their shoulders. One Exceed that they were extremely familiar with since he got most of them to help him fish over the last month at least one time or another. While the other Exceed remained close to the blue haired girl that for some reason smelt similar to the son of Igneel, probably indicating the bond that the two shared with each other. But what caught most of the wyverns off guard more than that, was the ashen haired beauty on Natsu's other side that had a distinctive scent on her that none of them could ever mistake.

"Oh dear god, is that how you feel whenever you're on any form of transportation?" asked Lucy while still on her knees and holding her gut tenderly.

"Yep, just think of feeling that way for every second that we were on one of those death traps." answered Natsu with a chuckle as he looked at rest of their group that were in a similar state to the celestial mage.

"Fuck, I'm just glad that it's been awhile since I ate anything." mumbled Gray with a hand covering his mouth. Said ice mage now had a newfound respect for the dragon slayer that somehow put up with feeling that way whenever they dragged him onto a train for a mission.

"Juvia has to agree with her Gray-sama on that one." stated the water mage with a slight smile as she started to rub his back. Obviously she wasn't affected as severely as the other mages in their group, possibly having something to do with her being able to change her whole body into water.

"And I thought Major Doranbolt's teleportation was jarring." said Savage as she slowly started to get off her knees.

"What I want to know is why Mira and the Exceeds don't seem affected by this at all?" asked Erza as she too slowly got back up into a standing position. Giving her old rival a slight glare, that said barmaid could only giggle at as she intertwined her fingers with Natsu's as they went back to holding hands.

"It probably has something to do with her having a dragon soul now." answered Natsu, not being able to hide the slight joy he was currently experiencing at seeing all of his old guild mates finally knowing what it was like for him on any sort of transportation.

"Carla and I didn't get sick because Natsu isn't transportation, he's our friend!" declared Happy with a giant grin stretching from ear to ear.

"That still doesn't make any sense, actually it makes less sense than when Natsu said it all of those years ago." mumbled Lucy, only to quickly cover her mouth and look as if she might be holding something back from spewing out onto the floor.

"I still don't see how it doesn't." replied Natsu while still smirking at all of them.

"This place is enormous." stated Wendy as she slowly turned around in a circle, taking in the main hall of his new home.

"And this is only just the main hall, I can't wait to show you two and Carla some of the secrets we found while fixing the place up." said Happy as he started to fly around excitedly.

"I'd love to Happy." she replied with a bright smile that the blue Exceed replicated.

"Did you also mean me?" asked Chelia as she pointed to herself with a nervous expression.

"Of course Chelia, you're one of the few people here that I can actually carry without getting tired." he replied while looking over at a certain blonde with a cheesy grin before taking off with the sky god slayer. Most likely making a quick escape before said blonde could start yelling at him, Carla and Wendy were quick to chase after the two of them so that they wouldn't get lost.

"They're not even going to see if we want to come along?" asked Savage as she and Erza appeared to have already completely recovered.

"It would seem the answer to that is no." answered Natsu with a little chuckle as he looked in the direction that the three disappeared in. "Which might be a blessing, since I can only imagine Happy giving a tour about his favorite fishing spots and other fish related things." finished the dragon slayer as he turned back to look at the rest of their group.

"I definitely wouldn't mind getting a tour from you, if you wouldn't mind that is." said Mira while giving him a soft smile that she knew he couldn't say no to.

"I'd love to." he replied with a smile of his own.

"Could you possibly wait for the rest of us normal people to recover?" asked Gray, still currently on his knees with Juvia comforting him despite his protests against such actions.

"And what precisely are you insinuating by that, Gray?" asked Erza in a calm tone that sent a shiver up the ice mage spin as she and Savage glared at him.

"That Lucy and I aren't able to recover as quickly as you three." he quickly replied back in a slightly scared tone. A tone that he hadn't used in a really long time, probably because Erza and the rest of their team haven't really acted like themselves since Natsu's departure from the guild. But after only being with him for just a few hours it seemed like they were going back to how things used to be between all of them.

"Then I would suggest that the two of you train harder." stated Savage as the scarlet haired knight nodded her head in approval.

"And how exactly would we do that, when we're only feeling like this because of his weird form of teleportation?" asked Lucy while pointing a finger at the fire dragon slayer that was just standing back with an amused smirk spread across his lips.

"If you want I can drag you around with me for a while." he offered, only for Gray and Lucy's faces to go pale just from the thought.

"Hell no!" they both shouted at him in a slightly agitated tone. None of their little group except for Natsu, expected to then hear a chorus of deep and angry growls coming from all around them. Which was what caused the previously motion sick mages to finally notice that they were completely surrounded by fire Wyverns. And as soon as they realized this they all got into defensive stances as they quickly went back to back with each other. They were all about to try and scare off the wyverns until the distinctive laughter of Natsu and Mira rang out in the large room.

"Oh my god, you should have seen your guys' faces." he chuckled out while actually wiping away a tear that came out due to his laughter.

"Don't worry, I've actually got a few pictures of them." replied Mira as she held up a camera that the rest of them had no idea where she got it from. None of this helped the group of mages that were still surrounded by all of the wyverns looking at them in a clearly upset manner if their growls were anything to go by.

"Natsu!" shouted out Erza only for her to cover up her mouth right afterwards. Realizing that she was about to go about her usual response to situations like this, which was to start yelling at him. But after everything that had recently happened between all of them she didn't want to risk it, also she knew that was something she needed to try and change about herself.

"A little help Commander Dragneel!" shouted out Savage to the surprise of Erza and the rest of the Fairy Tail mages. Not because she was asking for his help, but because of how she was doing it which all of them could agree on as being very Erza like. And to their shock this seemed to only cause Natsu to laugh even harder at them, but after a few more seconds of that he started to talk in draconic.

And after just a few words from him, all of the fire wyverns backed down yet they all seemed to still keep at least one eye on their group. Once again they were all slightly discomforted about how brutal and slightly terrifying the draconic language sounded to them. That for some of them just sounded like a whole lot of deep growls and grunts that they had no hopes of ever deciphering on their own. After Natsu spoke with the wyvern's for a little while they were stunned to watch most of them take flight out of the enormous terrace at the far end of the room.

This was when they all started to finally take in their surroundings, which to say the least, were awe inspiring from the sheer size alone. The main hall which they were currently in could easily hold at least eight of Fairy Tail's current guildhall, which made sense since this was supposed to have once been the home of all previous Fire Kings who just happened to be dragons. If they had to guess, the ceilings were around six stories tall and gave a slightly cavernous feel to the place since it was currently barren at the moment.

The only things currently in the main hall were the golden flames burning away in a circle fire place at the center of the room and the two rows of giant columns holding up the roof. These columns were about the size of Lucy's apartment in diameter and upon closer inspection appeared to have pictures carved into them with a few spots of draconic as well. The etchings usually had a dragon in them and seemed to be telling some sort of story as they progressed towards the back of the hall, which had the terrace that most of the wyverns departed out of.

With some of the remaining wyverns now curled up at some of the tops of these columns, where platforms stuck out just enough for them to properly lay down. It once again made the mages feel as if they were in some sort of cave with the inhabitants of said cave staring down at them. It also didn't help that all of the stones in the entire castle were grayish in color. The only thing that reminded them that they weren't in a cave was the enormous wooden doors slightly left ajar on all three sides of them. With the other side barely having any sort of wall at all since it was left wide open, letting them see the sun slowly making its way towards the horizon.

And this is where they all found themselves naturally pulled towards. The terrace of the main hall was positioned on the ledge of the island, which was also a cliff edge that went down a few hundred feet until you would hit water. Water that was constantly being churned by the waterfall just to the right of the terrace, something that they were shocked they hadn't notice due to the constant rushing noises of water coming from it. The only thing to adorn this terrace was two large sculptures of dragons on each side of it that connected with the rest of the castle. And of these two statues only the one on the left remained intact; the head of the one on the right was no longer there.

"This is absolutely incredible." mumbled Lucy as she couldn't help but marvel at the two statues. She continued to backpedal so that she could get a better look at both of them, wanting to see if they used to be identical to each other. But before she could figure that out the ground slightly shook beneath her which caused her to let out a little scream and spin around. This resulted with the poor celestial mage being just an inch away from a fire wyvern looking at her intently. "Natsu!" she yelled out in an obviously scared tone.

"Easy now Lucy, he was just making sure you didn't accidentally fall off the edge." he replied while gesturing to the edge that lacked any sort of railing.

"Thanks I guess." she said in a nervous tone as she continued to watch the wyvern. While also wondering if she was ever going to get used to these wyverns hanging about so casually like they were.

"Well that's something we're going to have to fix." stated Mira with a bright smile from her spot right next to Natsu, still holding onto his hand with clearly no intentions of letting it go anytime soon.

"I didn't know you'd be hanging around." said Natsu just loud enough for Mira to hear him, while also giving her a sly grin.

"I… I didn't mean anything like what you're hinting at." she replied with a slight blush while turning away from him. "I just didn't want you or anyone else to possibly get hurt." she mumbled back only for her to be twirled so that she was now face to face with him and now encased in his arms.

"Are you sure Mira? Because you don't know how much it'd mean to me if you did." he said as he rested his forehead against hers.

"No… But what about you not wanting to put those that you care about in more danger?" she asked him back hesitantly.

"That's still something I don't want to ever do, but I honestly can't think of any place in the world that could be safer than the headquarters of the Enforcers." he answered while giving her a slight smile.

"Are you saying that you want to lock me away here like some sort of princess?" she asked him back with a slightly upset look sent his way. "I didn't think you dragon slayers would actually go and do something that I've only read about in books." she stated with the same expression on her face.

"No that isn't what I was trying to do!" he replied in a slightly panicked tone as he separated from her and tried to better explain himself. "You wouldn't be here every day, only when you wanted to that is. I mean you're still a member of Fairy Tail and have duties there." he spluttered out, hoping that he didn't just make things weirder between him and Mira than it already was. Luckily for him after hearing the sound of her giggling at him he realized she was just messing with him like she used to do a lot when they were little.

"I'm glad to see that you're still capable of becoming flustered so easily." said Mira as she brought him back into a hug and rested her head onto his chest. "And I'd love to come here more often if that means we get to spend more time together." she said with a tender smile spreading across her face.

"Well now I don't know if I want you around anymore, especially if you're going to continue to do things like that to me." he said only for her to let out a little giggle and lightly hit him on the chest.

"Sorry to break up this little moment of yours, but Commander Dragneel. Did I hear correctly that this was going to be the headquarters of our division?" asked Savage with a stunned look on her face. One that came about from seeing her Commander act completely different than what she has grown used to, but at the same time from finding out that this castle might become their base.

Savage's interruption caused the couple to remember that they weren't alone like the two of them were acting just now. And if either of them had to guess, it was pretty clear that the rest of their group heard just as much as the one that just asked Natsu a question. They all had slightly sad looks on their faces as they looked at the two of them, but neither of them could figure out if it was because of Mira possibly no longer being at the guild as much as she used to. Or if it was because they are still feeling guilty about being the reason that the two of them were put into this weird situation, since if he was still at the guild they could be a normal couple right now.

"You heard correctly Savage, this is where we'll all be calling home for a while." he said with a slight blush as Mira went back to just standing beside him and holding his hand. "Which actually reminds me, I need to give Doranbolt a call so we can bring the rest of the division here." he finished no longer having a blush on his cheeks.

"The whole division is coming here?" asked Erza in a shocked tone as she stared at him as if he was crazy.

"Yep, if I'm giving a tour of this place I might as well get the rest of my troops in on it." he replied with that toothy grin of his.

"How the hell are you going to give a tour to your whole division?" asked Gray with an incredulous expression on his face. Instead of getting an answer out of the dragon slayer all they got from him was a roll of his eyes as he started to fiddle with his watch.

"Commander Dragneel, I hate to agree with the stripper, but I think he does have a point there." stated Savage as Gray started to glare at her for calling him a stripper like Natsu used to always do. But just like he did with Gray, Natsu blew her off as well, but it was probably due to Doranbolt answering his communication lacrima right then.

"Yes Commander Dragneel?" asked the image of Doranbolt on the watch's tiny screen.

"Can you gather the entire division in the next five minutes?" he asked to the shock of everyone else except for Doranbolt.

"I can have that done for you in less than three." replied the teleportation mage before his image disappeared.

"How in the hell will he be able to do something like that?" asked an incredulous Lucy.

"You do realize that he specializes in teleportation?" he asked with a deadpanned expression as he looked over at the blonde.

"Yes, but teleporting your whole division to wherever here is can't be easy. I mean a teleportation of that size would probably take the level of Wizard Saint to not mess it up." she stated while still looking at him incredulously.

"Who said he was going to be teleporting them here?" he asked her back with one of his signature grins slowly spreading across his face.

"You did Flame Brain." said Gray with a slight grin of his own, glad that Natsu seemed to still be the same person that they all used to know. This was something he was afraid of not being the case as soon as it was revealed that he was working for the Council and was a Commander of his own division.

"All I said was that he was going to be able to gather all of them in less than five minutes thanks to his teleportation magic. After that I'm going to be the one doing all of the hard work in bringing all of them here." he replied before turning away from them and heading over to one of the few wyverns still lounging about on the ground.

"Somehow he's even more annoying than he was before." stated the ice mage with a big smile that he instantly lost after being hit on the back of the head by a steel gauntlet.

"Gray, so help me, if you ruin this you'll never forget the punishment that will be coming your way." hissed Erza as she glared at him.

"It's fine Erza, actually I appreciate it that Gray is trying to go back to our old dynamic since no one ever argues with me like that anymore." said Natsu as he gave them a quick smile over his shoulder as he came to a stop in front of the wyvern he was heading to with Mira still by his side. And just like they all expected, he started to converse with the wyvern in draconic, occasionally gesturing to some of their little group. As this was going on the members of Fairy Tail decided to quickly discuss a few things between themselves.

"Juvia thinks that Natsu-san has completely forgiven all of you." stated Juvia with a bright smile.

"Seems like he has." agreed Gray as he wrapped his arm around the water mage and brought her closer to him. Both of them continued to watch Natsu speak with the wyvern with Mira happily hanging onto his arm, clearly intent on not letting go anytime soon.

"It would appear so, but I don't know if we should be so forgiving to ourselves." chimed in Erza with a prominent frown gracing her visage.

"I know what you mean Erza, just look at how happy those two are by being with each other. Something that they could have started a lot sooner if we hadn't driven him away." said Lucy while also having a similar expression of her own.

"That's just a bunch of bullshit." stated Savage, slightly scaring the rest of them since they forgot that she was still with them.

"And what exactly makes you say that?" asked Erza as she glared at the other sword mistress in their presence.

"Well first off the man you're all talking about probably forgave you almost as soon as he left your guild." she stated while raising her hand up in the air to cut all of them off from interrupting her. "And before you start asking why didn't he come back sooner and patch things up with all of you. Well to put it simply, as I'm sure you all already know, he's never been really good at expressing himself other than through his fists. Not to mention that the rest of the country's attention was then on him like never before, making it even harder for him to work out all of this on his own." she finished with a little grin as she also continued to watch the couple still speaking with the wyvern.

"Okay, but that still shouldn't have taken this long." stated Lucy as she looked at the Enforcer.

"True, but I have a feeling that some of that is because he wanted to change himself into someone better than he was before. And maybe he also wanted you all to feel bad for a little while since I can't imagine that it was easy for him to give up the only life he ever knew." she replied while glancing over at their guilty expressions.

"Which is why we shouldn't do anything else that could hurt him." declared Erza as a look of determination came over her face.

"I hope you realize that being too cautious might actually be worse than going back to how you once were with him." she pointed out, only for a slightly confused expression to wash over the Knight's old one. "What I'm trying to say is that becoming a completely different person around him is only going to make him feel guilty. What the Stripper is currently doing is what I suggest the rest of you to do, act like you usually would have around him but while also keeping in mind what you've learned about him since then."

"Why do you keep calling me that, did that Moron tell you to call me that?" asked Gray as he glared at the woman, who could only look at him with a blank expression.

"Are you really asking me that when you're just in your boxers?" Savage asked back while gesturing to his current state of dress.

"Why in the world is this happening again? I thought I had it under control." he replied as he started to frantically look around for his lost clothing.

"Juvia believes it might have something to with Natsu-san. Does Juvia have a new love rival to be concerned about?" she asked while giving the poor ice mage a heated glare as she threw his clothes in his face.

"Me and him?" he asked with a completely flabbergasted look on his visage while pointing at the dragon slayer not even paying attention to them. This of course was hilarious to everyone but a certain water mage that was still glaring at him while shaking her head yes. "Of course not Juvia, you're the only one for me and I thought that I made that clear to you the other night." he quickly spouted out with a slight blush coming over his face.

"Did you hear that Love rivals, I'm the only one for him!" she shouted out with a smug look as she looked at Natsu and Lucy. Natsu seemed to be so involved in his conversation with the wyvern that he didn't hear her, while Lucy on the other hand could only cover her face with one of her palms. The celestial mage had for a while thought that her whole love rival thing with Juvia was finally over since she was finally with Gray, but it would seem that it might just be something she has to get used to. She also couldn't help but snicker at the thought that Natsu might now also be in the same boat as her on that front.

"But what about keeping them apart?" inquired Erza after the three of them stopped snickering at Gray's expense.

"Were they ever together before all of this?" Savage asked back while sporting a sly grin.

"No they weren't, but…" she started to say.

"But nothing, I think him leaving was what they both needed to realize what they really cared about." interrupted Savage as she nodded in the two's direction. "From what I can tell, those two were always more concerned about everyone else's happiness before their own. Something that isn't going to stop for either of them, but at least now they aren't afraid to go after a little bit of happiness when it concerns the other." she finished with a content smile coming over her usually strict expression.

"I guess you're kind of right, but I really wish it didn't have to happen under such bad circumstances." stated Lucy with a warm smile spread across her lips as they looked at the two of them.

"That'll only make their story that much more interesting to hear about, something that I'm pretty sure the rest of the country wouldn't mind reading about." she replied absentmindedly.

"Do you really think it would make a good story?" asked Lucy with an excited look in her eyes.

"Absolutely, what do you think Erza?" she answered while turning to look at the scarlet haired woman in between the two of them.

"I wouldn't mind reading it." she said with a faint smile as she finally turned to look back at the person talking to her. "Would you mind telling me how you seem to know so much about him?" she asked as her expression along with her tone turned into stern ones.

"During my whole life I've always been on the sidelines, always observing how everyone else goes about their daily activities. Needless to say, if you do that long enough you get pretty good at figuring out what makes most people tick." answered Savage while not being the slightest bit intimidated by the redhead before her.

"Now you're the one giving bullshit answers." she stated as a sneer slowly spread across her lips.

"Aren't you the protective one, well if you must know, I'm also another one of his personal bodyguards." replied Savage as a proud grin came over her visage.

"And does he know about this title of yours?" she asked as the two of them locked eyes.

"Of course he does, he also knows that it was the Council's wish for him to have a few of us. A job that I take very seriously and will not hesitate to stop anyone from trying to harm him, no matter who they might be." said Savage as a steely expression took up residence on her face as she continued to look the scarlet haired woman directly in the eyes.

"I'm glad to hear that he has such a reliable person in his division." Lucy chuckled nervously as she got in between the two terrifying women. The celestial mage was about to keep talking in the hopes of alleviating the palpable tension between the two of them, but luckily this was when Natsu's communication lacrima went off.

"I've got them all gathered Commander Dragneel." stated Doranbolt from the tiny screen on the watch.

"Good, we're going to test out another move I've been working on in secret." stated Natsu as a mischievous grin spread across his lips. "Could you please destroy one of my lacrimas that I left with you Major Doranbolt." he finished as a look of shock came over Doranbolt's image.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Commander?" he asked in an uncertain tone.

"Absolutely, when have I ever done something that could have hurt my men?" asked Natsu, only for Doranbolt and Savage to both give him a blank stare. "And that of course excludes what I put them all through during their training these past few months." he stated with a little chuckle.

"We're still training them." pointed out his second in command, hoping that the dragon slayer would reconsider.

"Just do it Doranbolt."stated Natsu in a commanding tone as he glared down at the image of Doranbolt.

"Yes Sir!" was his quick response before the sounds of something breaking could be heard in the background. "Now what are your orders, Commander Dragneel?" he asked back, expecting to get his next instructions right away. But instead, for the next few seconds he watched in silence as a look of complete concentration came over the dragon slayer's visage.

"Order them to step through the portal that's going to open any second now." replied Natsu in a strained voice as he stood there with his eyes closed. His current guests were about to ask him what portal, when the fire in the middle of the room started to expand and slowly formed into what looked like an enormous doorway.

"Does he honestly expect them to willingly walk through something like that?" asked Gray as they all looked at the fiery doorway that looked like it would incinerate anything stupid enough to come near it. But before anyone could respond, all of the Fairy Tail mages were shocked to see a line of people come marching out of it.

And for the next minute they watched on in pure awe as all of the Enforcers filled through the flaming portal, for all of them to then just line up like they did when they were revealed to the rest of the country. The last one to step through the portal was Doranbolt, and as soon as he did the fiery doorway instantly went back to the fire that was usually burning in the middle of the hall. But the most surprising thing, for the Enforcers at least, was Natsu staggering to his knees as Mira kept him from falling flat on his face.

"And that is exactly what I was concerned about Commander Dragneel." stated Doranbolt as he came up to the dragon slayer with a disappointed expression.

"How exactly do you expect me to keep improving if I don't push myself every now and then?" he asked with one of his signature grins coming over his face as he looked up at the teleportation mage before him.

"Maybe by doing something that doesn't require so much magic power that even a Wizard Saint would have trouble doing the same." replied Doranbolt as he shook his head at his superior.

"I'm going to have to agree with him on that one Natsu." said Mira as she looked at him with a stern glare.

"You two worry too much." he said while standing back up and disconnecting from Mira, even though it was clear that she didn't want to. "And since I knew that it was going to be a little taxing on me, I decided to ask if some of the wyverns would be willing to help me out." he continued to say as he got to a clearing in the hall, which just so happened to have quite a few fire wyverns looking down at him from the rafters. Before any of them could even so much as get a word out, he was engulfed by at least ten different streams of fire courtesy of the wyverns surrounding him.

"Why does he always have to make a big show out of everything he does?" asked Gray with a happy grin spread clearly across his face.

"He really wouldn't be Natsu if he didn't." chimed in Happy, causing the members of Fairy Tail to slightly jump at his unexpected return.

"What's going on?" asked Chelia as she and Wendy looked at the epicenter of the Wyvern's combined attack. It only took the younger dragon slayer a second to realize exactly what was happening, which meant that she could focus on their new visitors.

"I think a better question to ask is why are all of the Enforcers standing so still?" she asked as she tilted her head to the left as she started to inspect them.

"It's because they are all now starting to feel the effects of teleporting all the way across the country in an instant." answered Natsu, now no longer being fed a ridiculous amount of fire like he was just a few seconds ago.

"Do you mean they are stuck like that rather than getting motion sickness like the rest of us?" asked Lucy, wishing that she could have had that instead of experiencing what they did after teleporting there.

"Nope, they actually got it a little worse than all of you did." he replied to their surprise. "At ease Enforcers!" he shouted out, only for most of the Enforcers to instantly fall to their knees while also taking off their helmets and looking as if they might hurl into them any second now.

"You've got to be kidding me, you've got them so well trained to not even break formation in a situation like that?" asked Erza in disbelief, because even she had to take a quick break after their little trip.

"Compared to what he put them through, a little motion sickness is nothing." replied Doranbolt as he chuckled while watching his troops roll around in discomfort.

"I don't even want to know what Flame Brain did to them if that is nothing by comparison." stated Gray as he and the rest of them watched most of the Enforcers quickly recover and fall back into formation.

"It was definitely worth it in the end." responded Savage before walking past him and heading to the position right in front of her troops.

"I bet it was." said Chelia with a wishful look coming over her face. "But do you guys always have to wear those uniforms?" she then asked with a slightly confused expression. And sure enough, all of the enforcers except for Savage were in their uniforms.

"Some of us find them to be extremely comfy, and they also don't look half bad if you ask me." stated Asura with a smirk on display for all of them to see.

"You're just lazy." declared Luis as he looked over at his fellow Captain, which only got the water dragon slayer to shrug his shoulders.

"To answer your question Chelia, no they don't have to but considering I had no idea what our wise Commander had in store for all of us. I thought that it would probably be for the best if they were ready for a fight." answered Doranbolt with a little smirk.

"I was hoping that you'd do that, because now I can give a tour of our soon to be headquarters without needing to repeat myself." stated Natsu as he did a few hand gestures. Gestures that apparently told all of the Enforcers to put on their helmets and form up into a really long line. "Let's get this show on the road!" he then shouted out in excitement as he turned away from all of them and headed towards one of the large doors on the sides of the hall.

"I really don't see how that is going to change anything." whispered Juvia to the other Fairy Tail mages who were just as lost as she was.

"Oh right, you guys don't know about the communication lacrimas built into their helmets do you?" he asked as he quickly came to a stop. "Well since none of you guys have a helmet I would suggest you don't fall behind." he finished with a little smirk as he and Mira started to walk away from them.

"He's not joking about that." giggled Mira as she looked back at her fellow guild members with a bright smile.

"It's got to be better than just wandering around this place with no clue at all." stated Gray as he and Juvia followed after the two, with the rest quickly following their lead.

And for the next hour and a half Natsu lead them through the enormous castle. He surprisingly knew quite a bit about what all of the rooms used to be, but even more surprising then that was that he actually had his own plans for them. Like one of the biggest rooms, except for the main hall, being turned into their new training grounds which sounded like it would be even more extensive than their current one.

All of his plans pretty much consisted of him adapting a room to fit some other purpose that they would eventually need in the future. Purposes such as creating individual rooms for each and every Enforcer while making a lot more since he had a feeling that they would be getting more recruits after the Grand Magic Games. Honestly he didn't think that he would need anymore, but knowing the Council it was a safe bet that they would want more of his impressive troops on the way.

By the time that the tour was getting towards its end, they could see that all of the essentials were going to be covered in his plans for the place. But once again the Fairy Tail mages were caught off guard by some of the other things that he had planned for the place. Like laboratories for his troops to do research in, or the already surprisingly large library that he was setting up. And it didn't even stop at that, he had sections set aside for all sorts of other skills like blacksmithing and tailoring just to name two.

"Are we done Commander Dragneel?" asked Cyrus in a bored tone. He along with the rest of the Captains were right next to Natsu as he gave the tour, which also allowed some of them to get better acquainted with his former guild members. This of course was at first a little awkward for some of them, but by the end of it they were having their own small conversations while still listening in on the dragon slayer's plan for the place.

"Pretty much." answered Natsu as he came to a stop. "So if any of you feel like going out and exploring on your own now is the time. Oh, but remember that if you run into a wyvern that is acting hostile to you then you're not meant to be there." he said with a little chuckle.

"Can we fight them?" asked Toshi with an excited smirk coming over his face.

"No, but there are some wyverns in our soon to be training area that are up for training with anyone willing." he replied as he went back to walking with Mira holding onto his right arm.

"Who in their right mind would want to do something like that?" asked Lucy in a scared tone as she thought back to when the group of the wyverns were growling at them after they first arrived.

"It would appear that most of them would." said Erza while gesturing to the almost nonexistent line of Enforcers behind them. "Even Captain Cyrus and Captain Toshi seem to have taken him up on that offer." she finished as their smaller group continued to follow after Natsu.

"Captain Cyrus is more than likely on his own right now." stated Savage with a slight frown flashing across her face before it went back to her usual stern one.

"Juvia would like to know why you think that." said the water mage while happily holding onto Gray's arm with a bright smile that never seemed to leave her face anymore.

"It's because that guy doesn't like large crowds." answered Luis with his hands behind his head as he continued to admire the high ceilings of their new headquarters.

"Or even small ones for what it's worth." chimed in Asura with a frustrated look coming over his expression. "No matter how hard we try to get him to open up to us he still keeps us at an arm's length away, the only one he seems to really talk with is Commander Dragneel and Major Doranbolt." he said before starting to whistle a cheery tune.

"You guys sure know how to pick 'em." stated Gray in a sarcastic tone as he looked to the front of their group where the two highest ranking Enforcers were located.

"Whatever you say stripper." replied Natsu before he went back to quietly chatting with Mira.

"You Fairy Tail mages of all people should know that powerful mages can be hidden in all sorts of strange and odd individuals." commented Doranbolt as he fell back from the couple upfront so he could converse with the rest of them better.

"And we do, but I'm just kind of surprised that someone as antisocial as him appears to be as capable of staying that way with the rest of you." he replied while nodding towards the whistling water dragon slayer. Who seemed to be in his own world at the moment, but his fellow Enforcers knew better than to believe that.

"Like Asura said before, we've tried to get him to open up to us but so far that's yielded absolutely nothing." stated Savage as their little group found themselves back in the main hall of the castle.

"Did you guys ever think that he might just need more time?" inquired Erza; even though she knew from personal experience that somethings didn't get better with more time. In her case, telling the guild only got harder with each passing day, which went to the point that she was determined to settle that whole mess on her own and try to not get any of them involved. But of course that didn't go how she planned, luckily her team didn't care and fought by her side that day, none more so than a certain pink haired dragon slayer.

"Erza's right, it took Gajeel a while to open up to the rest of us." stated Lucy with a bright smile. "Actually he's still opening up if I'm going to be completely honest." she finished with a little smirk.

"Do you guys really want to know why Cyrus has a hard time opening up to people?" asked Natsu while standing with Mira at his side as the two of them stood on the ledge looking out over the waterfall right next to the castle.

"If it would help us understand him then of course we would." answered Savage before anyone else could respond.

"Are you sure it's okay to tell us all of this Natsu?" asked Mira as she looked up at him with a concerned look.

"Why wouldn't it be, after me and Cyrus started to converse on a regular basis he said I could let the rest know about his past whenever I wanted to." he replied with one of his toothy grins.

"Then why are you waiting until just now to tell us?" asked Savage as she gave him an intimidating glare that he just brushed off.

"Because up until now you've all been training pretty much twenty four-seven, also I didn't really see the need to since he seems completely fine how things are right now." he answered while shrugging his shoulders and going back to looking out at the vast ocean before them. "But now that I know it's bothering others I think it's time to explain what Cyrus has been put through." he said as a frown slowly formed on his lips.

"Well are you going to keep talking?" asked Lucy in an impatient tone after they stood there in silence for a whole minute.

"Just trying to figure out the best way to explain all of this to you guys, and if I should even share it to people outside of the Enforcers." replied Natsu to the shock of pretty much the entire group.

"It can't really be that bad, can it Natsu-nii?" asked Wendy as she looked up at him questioningly.

"That really depends, what I'm about to tell all of you is something that many people would definitely try to take advantage of." he stated, only for all of the people gathered that weren't Enforcers to look slightly hurt that he apparently thought they would be one of those people. "Not that any of you would do that, but I have to be concerned about it eventually being told to someone else after this. And then the next thing I know the entire country knows and every scumbag is now trying to figure out how they can get it for themselves." he explained while running a hand through his hair.

"I promise on my honor as a member of Lamia Scale that I won't tell another soul." stated Chelia while giving him a determined look that brought a slight grin to his lips. A grin that became a full on one as the rest of the non-Enforcers made similar promises to him.

"Fine, you guys must really want to know." he said with a little chuckle.

"Of course we do Natsu, if whatever you're going to tell us about Cyrus is important enough for you to be that worried about him it has to be something good." said Mira with a twinkle in her eye, probably due to her always being the person everyone went to for some good gossip at Fairy Tail.

"He's died a total of four times so far." he replied with a completely serious expression, which he knew he definitely needed to have by all of the incredulous looks he got in return.

"Is that some kind of stupid joke of yours Flame Brain?" asked Gray only for the pink haired man to shake his head no.

"There's no way that he's died four times, wait just a minute, what kind of deaths are we talking about here?" inquired Asura now extremely interested in the conversation he used to be pretending he wasn't interested in the slightest.

"The kinds of deaths that you don't come back from." was the dragon slayer's cryptic reply.

"Can you give us an example?" asked Cheila since due to her magic she had a really good idea of what your average mage could survive. The same thing could be said for Wendy, but unlike the rest of them she didn't really want to know more since she knew Natsu wouldn't joke about something like this.

"Having your throat sliced or being stabbed in the heart usually does the trick." he responded while still looking at the rest of them with a serious expression.

"Then how is he still alive?" asked Savage, who has seen firsthand that even mages can't heal a heart that's been run through.

"He's still with us because of his magic." replied Natsu; honestly he should have known that telling them just that wouldn't have been enough to clear it up for all of them.

"So the cold bastard was actually raised by a real god damn phoenix." said Luis before letting out a long whistle. "And here I thought he only said that to try and be like some of the dragon slayers out there." he continued to say while shaking his head.

"Are you saying that Cyrus can come back to life just like phoenixes are rumored to?" asked Lucy while intently looking at the dragon slayer for any of his usual hints of deception. Which she didn't see any of, but considering what has happened between them over the last year she doesn't really know if she could ever really tell when he was lying to them.

"That he can, but unfortunately it comes with some drawbacks." he answered while turning away from all of them since it was clear that they believed him now.

"What in the world could possibly be bad about not being able to die?" inquired Asura as he looked at the back of his fellow dragon slayer and commanding officer.

"Who said that he can't die?" he asked back while looking over his shoulder at all of them. "If that was indeed the case then shouldn't there be tons of Phoenixes all over the world?" he continued to say while going back to gazing out the terrace of his main hall. "There is always some sort of weakness that can be exploited, and because of that dragons and phoenixes are now a thing of the past. And soon even the remnants of their magic will fade away into history and possibly even become myth after that." he finished with a sad smile.

"That's not going to happen Natsu, you, Cyrus and the other slayers will pass it on to someone else." stated Mira as she got in front of him and gave him a determined look directly in the eyes. "For all we know it could possibly be passed down to all of your children, which would mean that there will be a lot of them running around in a few years." she said only to then notice the shocked looks everyone but Natsu were giving her at the moment. It took her just a second to realize how what she just said could be interpreted in a completely different way than she intended it to.

"I'm not saying that you're going to be having tons of kids anytime soon, what I meant to say was that all of the kids of the different slayers out there could carry on the magic." she frantically explained as a slight blush came over her face as she wished she could disappear right then.

"I've always wanted to have a big family of my own." whispered Natsu just loud enough for the ashen haired beauty before him to barely hear it. This caused Mira to instantly stop freaking out and look up at him with a bright smile, since she also wanted to have a large family once she finally settled down with someone.

"So what are some of those drawbacks you've yet to mention, other than him still being able to die of course?" asked Erza after clearing her throat to get everyone's attention that used to be on the embarrassed barmaid just seconds ago.

"I'd actually consider that a positive." he mumbled to all of their shock, which he instantly saw from all of their confused looks that he would once again need to explain himself. "Have any of you thought what it would actually be like to never die, and I'm referring to how that would play out later on in life. When all of your friends eventually pass away and you're left all alone only to make new friends that you know are going to eventually die while you don't. That alone would make me never want to have that ability or whatever you want to call it." he explained to them as realization slowly spread across their little group.

"Shit, I never really thought about it that way, but what is even more surprising to me is that apparently you have." stated Gray with a bewildered look plastered across his face.

"Let's just say that I've run into someone else that probably has the same problem, well not really, his problem is way worse if what I've uncovered about him is indeed true." he said as a flame of determination sprung up in the back of his onyx eyes, only for them to quickly disappear a second later. "But that is something I'll have to deal with later on." he stated more to himself than to any of them.

"Natsu?" said Mira as she looked up at him with concern since she could tell that he wasn't telling them something that he probably should have.

"Don't worry about it Mira, and another drawback of Cyrus's magic would be that he remembers every second of each of his deaths vividly. I don't care who you are, but that is something that will eventually affect even the strongest of mages out there." he said while slightly glaring at all of them, just asking for one of them to disagree with him. "If those aren't enough to make you have second thoughts about coming back to life after a fatal wound; then there is also the excruciating process of his body stitching itself back together a few hours later in a usually desolate spot in the middle of nowhere." he finished with a frown.

"So you're saying that he's awake while his body is healing itself?" asked Wendy as she started to imagine how painful that would be considering that the wounds being healed were enough to cause his death. Natsu didn't really feel like he needed to answer that out loud so he instead decided to nod his head yes.

"Damn, that really explains why he is the way he is right now." said Luis with a slightly sad expression on his usually smug face.

"And why he hasn't really tried to get to know any of us any better." stated Savage as she also had a similar expression to that of the shadow make mage.

"Except for Commander Dragneel and Major Doranbolt that is." pointed out Asura, whose visage was like the other two Captains of the Enforcers.

"Hey, he only opened up to me thanks to this guy constantly pestering him to." replied Doranbolt as he nodded in the direction of the pink haired dragon slayer.

"And we don't really need to question how Natsu of all people got Cyrus to open up to him, since that is just one of the many things that makes him an extraordinary person." said Mira with one of her brightest smiles, that faltered for just a second when she thought she saw the dragon slayer flinch. But it must have been her imagination since he was then giving her one of his toothy grins that she missed so much over the past few months.

"You said that he can actually die, does that mean he has a certain amount of lives to go through?" inquired Cheila, who didn't want to ruin the slightly better atmosphere they had just gotten. But it had been bugging her since he mentioned it earlier but never went further into detail.

"That's something that both of us really don't know, which is kind of a good thing otherwise who knows how reckless he might become in his fights later on. What we do know is that Dramocis's last moments were more than likely passing on or unlocking this part of his magic." answered Natsu as he turned to look at Wendy's best friend, other than her Exceed partner that is.

"Who's Dramocis?" asked Lucy since it was the first time her or the rest of them had heard that name.

"That's the name of his phoenix." replied the god slayer with a frown since she knew that most of the other slayers saw each of their mythical beasts as a parent.

"Cyrus was visiting one of the local villages that he and Dramocis lived near that fateful day, when on his way home he heard some screaming in the distance. And upon investigating the source of the commotion he found some dark mages attacking some travelers. He was driven into a frenzy at the sight of them since they belonged to the same guild that killed his real family a few years earlier." explained the fire dragons slayer as they all waited in absolute silence to hear more from him. "Given his young age he didn't really stand a chance against six fully grown and well trained dark mages, which unfortunately resulted in his first death. One of the last things he saw before passing on was Dramocis swooping down and freezing all of the dark mages in an instant. The next thing he knew he woke up screaming out in pain as his body knitted itself back together, with Dramocis lying right next to him with one final smile that would forever be burned into his memory." he finished with a sad smile spread across his mug.

"He got to say goodbye to Dramocis didn't he?" asked Happy, looking like he was holding back some tears that were threatening to come out.

"Unfortunately he didn't, but Cyrus told me that he could tell from Dramocis's smile and how he had his wings wrapped around him protectively that he truly cared about him and would more than likely do it all again." he answered with a sad smile as he thought back to his final moments with Igneel.

"Do any of you slayers have a happy origin story?" inquired Savage, which caused most of them to look at her in disbelief. "What, it's not like I'm the only one that has ever wondered that? Each one of you suffered a lot in your early years and it seems a little too coincidental to me." she stated while looking at all of the different slayers with an inquisitive look.

"Are you suggesting that in order to have a slaying type of magic you need to suffer in some way?" asked Erza as she gave the other sword mistress a stern look.

"Maybe, it's just a thought." she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I didn't go through anything like that to get my magic." chimed in Cheila, getting all of the attention directed her way.

"How did you get your magic anyways?" asked Carla from her spot on Wendy's shoulder.

"I learned it from a book that Gran Doma gave me during my studies at the academy." she replied with a fond smile slowly spreading across her face as she thought back to those days.

"You really are something else if you were able to learn that kind of magic just from a book." stated Natsu as he gave her one of his signature grins, causing the poor girl to become slightly flustered by the complement. "And yes we slayers have been through some hard times, but we've persevered and because of that we've become stronger. Something that I'm certain each of us will continue to do in the future, but I think it's about time to start getting ready for the night." he said to the confusion of the group.

"Natsu, it's still bright out." stated Mira as she gestured to the setting sun.

"That it is, but back in Crocus it's been dark for quite a while." he explained with a smug grin spread across his face.

"Are we going to be spending the night here or heading back?" asked Erza, ready to take charge of the situation like she usually would in a situation like this. "Because if we stay here we've got a lot of work to do before we can set up camp." she finished while already coming up with a plan of who would do what.

"I was going to suggest that we just stay here." he replied with a little chuckle. "But as for getting the place ready, let's just say that the Enforcers are prepared for roughing it."

"I really don't like the sound of that." mumbled Lucy as she imagined all of them sleeping under the night sky with just a blanket.

"Don't worry Lucy, it's not going to be anything like you're currently imagining." chuckled the dragon slayer as he with Mira at his side headed towards one of the side entrances of the castle.

"And what exactly am I imagining?" she asked him back while glaring at the back of his skull.

"That we'd be sleeping out in the open with just a blanket, something along those lines." he replied while glancing back at the blonde that suspiciously got quiet. "You'll soon see that even though my division could easily handle something like that, I've realized that there are certain benefits to having a proper camp."

"It's about time that you realize that." stated Erza as she smiled at the dragon slayer that could only laugh at her comment.

"You were right Erza, but I think you'll be slightly surprised at how I've improved on your teachings." he said while throwing open the large doors that lead out to a nearby prairie. Well that is what used to be on the other side of the doors, but instead they now saw rows of gray tents with the Enforcer's emblem on them. These tents weren't your standard tents, oh no, just from one look you could see that they contained some sort of magic to them.

"When in the world did this happen?" asked the scarlet haired knight as she and the rest of the Fairy Tail mages looked over the large camp that seemed to just suddenly appear.

"Right after the official tour was done, some of the troops that didn't want to spar with the wyverns decided to help set up camp." answered Doranbolt with a proud smile since they did all of this without either of them ordering them to.

"That still shouldn't have been enough time for them to do all of this." she argued as she gestured to the rows of tents that looked to be perfectly aligned with each other to make a large square.

"You'd be correct Titania if this was the Council's usual group of Rune Knights. But as I'm sure you're already well aware of, we're anything but that. Commander Dragneel saw value in mages that weren't offensively oriented like he is and because of that we are capable of feats such as this and many more." he replied still having that proud grin of his as they started to walk into their camp.

"I'll say, I don't think Flame Brain ever set up a tent correctly in his entire life." stated Gray only to then realize that because of said comment Savage and Juvia were in an intense stare down with each other.

"You'd be correct about that Ice Princess, why set up a stupid tent when I'm completely fine enjoying the night sky." he replied while also raising the temperature around them by quite a noticeable amount.

"Makes sense, it's the same for me." stated Gray as frost started to spread from his location in all directions until it headed in the pink head's direction. The two of them locked eyes for a bit, causing Erza and Lucy to both grow concerned that the two were going to start fighting each other like they used to. But instead of that happening, both of them broke into laughter as they released their magic causing the temperature to go back to what it should have been the whole time.

"I hope you still don't plan on sleeping out in the open by yourself." stated Mira as she looked at him with a worried expression.

"Are you offering to keep me company?" he asked her back with a sly grin, which caused the model to start blushing up a storm. Luckily she was able to get a hold of it before any of the others noticed it, which she was hoping wouldn't be the case for Natsu when she turned the tables on him.

"What if I am Natsu, do you really think you'd be able to remain the gentleman that the rest of the country now believes you to be?" she asked him back with a sultry grin. "My nighty is pretty revealing as you already know, but since I don't have it with me right now I'll just have to go all natural." she whispered into his ear in a tone that matched her grin. Most men at this point would have either become a complete mess or fainted on the spot from a proposition like that, but luckily for her he definitely wasn't your standard man.

"If that is the case, then you'd soon realize that I've never claimed to be a gentleman." he replied in a husky tone that sent a shiver up her spine. "I'm closer to a dragon than a gentleman, and when a dragon wants something it takes it and never lets go." he finished while pulling her by the waist until she was up against him.

"That sounds like something I might be into." she said while staring back into those deep onyx eyes of his.

"Well that's enough romance for me." declared Gray as he started to pull a reluctant Juvia with him.

"But it was just getting so close to the good part." whimpered the water mage, only for Gray to whisper something into her ear. The next second the two vanished to god only knows where, but if the face Juvia made while Gray was whispering to her was any indication. Then the two of them probably didn't want to be disturbed by any of them until they needed to head back to Crocus in the morning.

"I think that it's about time for us to depart as well." said Erza with a bright smile as she and Lucy headed further into the camp with Doranbolt accompanying the two of them. The two glanced around them to realize that the rest of their group had already departed, probably to avoid seeing any more of their public display of affection for each other. Honestly neither of them really cared since both of them were happy to once again have some alone time with each other.

"So I assume you have your own tent somewhere." stated the ashen haired beauty with a mischievous grin spread across her lips.

"I do, but how about we have a quick stroll first." he suggested while picking her up bridal style and heading out of the camp before she could even respond.

"It's not really a stroll if you're carrying me Natsu." she pointed out while giving him a cute smile.

"True, but if we were just walking, neither of us would get to feel the other one as much as we are right now." he stated as Mira rested her head against his chest.

"I can't argue with that." she replied as the two of them disappeared into the surrounding trees.

 **End of Chapter**

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Thanks for reading and I know that it's been way too long since I've updated this story. There's not really much for me to say about that other than life seems to always get in the way and distract me with all sorts of other things. I know that this chapter was pretty much a filler one, but I felt the need to give a little more background on some of the Captains of the Enforcers and this one was mainly about Cyrus. I also wanted to show that Natsu has honestly forgiven his old team and that things are going to slightly go back to how they were between all of them. Of course they now know that he isn't as dense as he used to pretend to be, also that he is just like the rest of them and can have his feelings hurt.** **Well as always feel free to leave a review or PM and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.**

 **Until the next Chapter**

 **Digem Out!**


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